For the 2nd night in a row, the Laval Rocket needed extra time to secure the victory as they beat the Utica Comets 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday evening. It was Sammy Blais who came up clutch and played the hero in the shootout to give the Rocket their 9th win in their last 11 games. Kaapo Kahkonen had a very solid night for the 2nd straight game in the absence of Jacob Fowler, who was unable to play due to illness.
The Rocket netminder didn’t have to face too much rubber on the night, stopping 16 of the 17 shots through regulation and overtime. However, when it mattered most, Kahkonen made the big stops in the shootout to get the victory for the Rocket.
Overall, the game was very defensive, with all the offence coming early in the first period. The shot totals after 65 minutes ended up being 21-17 in favour of the Rocket. Nearly half of the Rockets’ shots even came in the opening frame, as they took 10 shots during the first 20 minutes of the game. Meanwhile, it was the 2nd period where the Comets got the majority of shots, outshooting the Rocket 10-4 in the middle frame. Both teams combined for just 11 shots in the final 25 minutes of play, as their defences played a key role in the game as a whole.
For a game that had so little offence, the Rocket actually got on the board extremely quickly thanks to defenseman William Trudeau. The Rocket defenseman opened the scoring just 1:23 into the game. It was actually a play by Alex Belzile to feed Sean Farrell with a cross-ice pass for a shot that led to a rebound where Trudeau was there to put the puck past Comets goaltender Jakub Malek. The goal was William Trudeau’s 8th goal of the season, which ties his career high in the AHL from the 2023-24 campaign.
It wouldn’t take long for the Comets to draw even, as midway through the 1st period, defenseman Calen Addison would score on an odd-man rush off a cross-ice pass by Kyle Criscuolo. The goal came at 12:12 into the game.
After that we wouldn’t see much offence at all, as both goaltenders managed to stay strong, each making big saves for their respective team. As mentioned earlier for Malek, a lot of the shots came during the 1st period, while Kahkonen made the majority of his stops during the middle frame.
Just like the rest of the game, the shootout started with an early goal, before the rest of the players were shut out by the two netminders. Blais would go up as the very first shooter, where he would score by deking to his backhand before flipping it over Malek’s pads. The shooters for the Comets were unable to respond, allowing Kahkonen to get a win for the 2nd straight night as the Rocket improve to 33-14-2-2 on the season.
Given that Kahkonen also played on Friday, even if Fowler isn’t able to go, it may be best for him to get the afternoon off on Sunday, as the Rocket are set to face the Comets at 3:00 pm ET. The fact that the Rocket will be playing for the 3rd straight day, Kahkonen will surely need rest, especially considering both his starts went past regulation. With that being said, we may see Hunter Jones getting his 3rd start of the season.