AHL Laval Rocket

Rocket Can't Overcome Early Deficit in 5-3 Loss against Charlotte

Published on March 24, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Laval Rocket News Release


LAVAL - Less than 24 hours after losing a hard-fought battle against the Charlotte Checkers, the Laval Rocket had the chance to avenge their loss on Saturday afternoon- but the fan favorites were missing time to complete their comeback and the Checkers topped the Rocket 5-3 for their second victory against the Rocket in as many days.

Aleksi Saarela striked midway through the first frame to open the scoring for the visitors as Lucas Wallmark and Greg McKegg brilliantly set up Saarela for his 22nd goal of the season. Goaltender Zach Fucale stood tall and made several good saves during the opening minutes of the second period, but he couldn't stop McKegg from scoring his 10th of the season to double Charlotte's lead.

Andrew Poturalski then netted his 18th and 19th goals of the season to give Charlotte a 4-0 advantage. Despite several quality scoring chances, the Rocket players seemed unable to get the puck past Alex Nedeljkovic until Jérémy Grégoire finally beat the Charlotte netminder with passes from Bourque and Ebbing to take away the shutout.

Saarela obtained his third point of the night when his shot went past Fucale halfway through the third period. However, the Rocket would not let the Checkers go without a fight. Laval gave their best effort to complete the comeback as Kerby Rychel and Adam Cracknell each scored late in the game, but it was too late to overcome the two-goal deficit and Charlotte ultimately won the game 5-3.

The Rocket will now hit the road as they will face the divisional rival Belleville Senators tomorrow afternoon at

Yardmen Arena.

Goalscorers :

LAV: Grégoire (4, 15), Rychel (22, 40), Cracknell (40, 22)

CHA: Saarela (32, 14), McKegg (32, 7), Poturalski, Poturalski (20, 24), Saarela (23, 18)

Goaltenders:

LAV: Fucale - L (32/37) | CHA: Nedeljkovic - W (24/27)

Rocket Powerplay: 1/2 | Rocket Penalty Kill: 1/2

Three stars:

1. Aleksi Saarela - CHA / 2. Andrew Poturalski - CHA / 3. Nicolas Roy - CHA

Check out the Laval Rocket Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from March 24, 2018


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