(Utica) The Laval Rocket was at the heart of an excellent sequence which allowed it to settle in the last place giving access to the playoffs in the North section, but the Utica Comets played spoilsport on Wednesday .
Ryan Schmelzer broke the tie with less than five minutes to play and the Comets won 3-1 to move within three points of Jean-François Houle’s team with two games in hand.
Chase Stillman and Filip Engaras also found the back of the net for the Comets, who nevertheless remain in seventh and last place in the North section. Akira Schmid stopped 23 pucks.
The Rocket was unable to take advantage of the excellent outing of Jakub Dobes, who made 29 saves. Jacob Perreault was his only teammate to make the red light shine.
The Rocket thus concludes its five-game trip with a 3-2-0 record. He had won his last three meetings and seven of his last eight.
The Montreal Canadiens’ farm club still has to play eight games between now and the end of the campaign. He will play his next two games against the Belleville Senators, Saturday and Sunday at Place Bell.
The Senators are sixth in the section with two more games to play before the end of the regular season.
Little action
The first six minutes of play were the affair of the Rocket, who completely dominated the game. He was constantly in Comets territory, taking the first three shots of the game.
Perreault, however, received a penalty in the offensive zone which allowed the local favorites to obtain the first numerical superiority of the match, and it changed the shape of the match. Indeed, the next six shots went to the Comets.
Against his former team, Nathan Légaré was also sent off, this time for obstruction at the expense of Dobes. But despite four penalties in the first period, the score was still 0-0 after 20 minutes of play.
Perreault, however, made sure to put the Rocket on the board after just 31 seconds of play in the second. He redirected a pass from his captain Gabriel Bourque behind Schmid.
It was his first point in seven games with the Rocket since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks on March 7. He also ended a drought of 15 games without points in the American League. He has eight goals and 19 points in 38 games this season.
Stillman, however, brought the two teams back to an equal footing 2:41 into the third period when he made a one-timer as the puck slid towards him.
The Comets couldn’t afford a loss to stay in a good position in the playoff fight and they were dominant in the third period.
Emil Heineman sank his team with a blind pass in his zone. Schmelzer took the opportunity to break the tie. He scored his 17e net of the campaign with 4:03 remaining in the game.
reference: www.lapresse.ca