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AHL Laval Rocket

Valiev Breaks Sparks' Shutout on Fan Appreciation Night

April 14, 2018 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Laval Rocket News Release


LAVAL - A pair of third period goals from Chris Mueller propelled the first place overall Toronto Marlies to a 4-1 victory over the Laval Rocket at Place Bell on Friday night in the first of two back-toback games against one another to close out Laval's Inaugural season.

After a short first period due to no penalties, no goals and very few whistles, the Marlies opened the scoring 3:38 into the second frame after the puck deflected off of Charlie Lindgren's pad and went to Carl Grundstrom, who netted his first of the year on the play. Jéremy Grégoire came close to tying the game with Sparks laid out on the ice in the second half of the period, but was missing an extra second to get the puck completely around him before the Toronto defender took the puck away.

Lindgren brought the 6 527 fans to their feet mid-game on fan appreciation night with a save-of-the-year candidate. The Laval netminder did the splits and slid across the crease to snatch Jeremy Bracco's one-timer out of mid-air, and although the momentum from the save fueled multiple Rocket scoring chances, Toronto went on to add a power play goal to make it 2-0 at the end of the second. Mueller's two third period goals made it 4-0 for the Marlies, but Rinat Valiev scored his sixth of the season against his former team to break Sparks' shutout with less than four minutes remaining in the period.

Once the final buzzer sounded to finalize Toronto's victory, the Rocket took to centre ice to salute the fans who have cheered them on throughout the entirety of their inaugural season and proceeded to take the jerseys off their backs in order to gift them to a lucky few.

"[They've] been absolutely incredible," said Lindgren of the fans. "After playing all around the league this year, we come home, and we know our fans are the best in the league- no question about it."

Goalscorers:

LAV: Valiev (37)

TOR: Grundstrom (9, 55), Rosen (41, 19), Mueller (18), Mueller (18, 52)

Goaltenders:

LAV: Lindgren - L (22/26) | TOR: Sparks - W (24/25)

Rocket Power Play: 0/1 | Rocket Penalty Kill: 1/2

Three Stars:

1. Chris Mueller - TOR / 2. Carl Grundstrom - TOR / 3. Garret Sparks - TOR

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American Hockey League Stories from April 14, 2018


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