(Laval) Jakub Dobes stopped 35 pucks and the Laval Rocket scored an important 2-1 victory at the expense of the Belleville Senators on Friday evening at Place Bell.
The Laval team has placed itself back in the portrait of the North section series in recent weeks and Dobes has proven to be one of the main reasons. He has won six of his last eight starts, allowing only two goals or fewer in seven of them.
The brilliance of Dobes on Friday evening also allowed Jean-François Houle’s men to give themselves a four-point lead ahead of the Senators (30-27-6) in fifth place in the section, the last one giving access to the playoffs.
William Trudeau and Brandon Gignac threaded the needle for the Rocket (31-26-8), who this time managed to keep their one-goal lead in the third period. Wednesday evening, he let the Utica Comets come from behind to win in regulation time.
Egor Sokolov responded for the Senators, who lost both home games against the Rocket last weekend. Leevi Merilainen gave up twice in 17 shots.
It was a first match at Place Bell for David Reinbacher. The first choice of the Montreal Canadiens in 2023 had also scored a crucial goal in Belleville, last Friday, in his first game in the American Hockey League.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
David Reinbacher
The two rivals will cross swords again in Laval on Saturday afternoon.
Led by Dobes
The playoff atmosphere was very present at the start of the match and the Laval residents also made their presence felt by taking the lead in the third minute of play.
Mitchell Stephens was alone in front of Merilainen with Trudeau, but he completely missed the target. The puck, however, remained in enemy territory and the Rocket was lucky when Trudeau’s throw hit the blade of Nikolas Matinpalo’s stick before moving the strings.
When he’s not being thwarted by his teammates, Merilainen does a good job, and he proved it in the following minutes. Forgotten near the net, Lias Andersson came up against the Finn’s mitt, who then released his right pad at the expense of Gabriel Bourque.
The Senators were quietly more incisive and they tied the game before returning to the locker room. After a save from Dobes, the disc flew against two players and Sokolov was ultimately the beneficiary. His quick shot just crossed the red line.
The somewhat more hermetic game gave way to wild play in the second period, and both teams buzzed in attack. Dobes was called upon more than his opposite number and he was shorthanded, in addition to having help from his left post.
The puck finally cooperated for the Rocket, halfway through the period. Emil Heineman started a two-on-one build-up and Gignac put the finishing touches after accepting Sean Farrell’s crossfield pass.
Dobes greatly helped his troops maintain their 2-1 lead in the second period and added more in the first moments of the third period. During a penalty kill, he frustrated Garrett Pilon with the left pad to keep the score intact.
For his part, Merilainen was able to thank his right post in quick succession, on a shot from Farrell, and his defender Maxence Guénette, who took out his skate at the last second to rob Jacob Perreault of a certain goal.
The Rocket goalkeeper and the defense closed the door in the final minutes to confirm their victory.
reference: www.lapresse.ca