AHL: Rocket sets the tone for their trip with a win in Bridgeport

After a frustrating outing at home against the Toronto Marlies last weekend, the Laval Rockets set the tone for their three-game road trip with a 4-0 win over the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday.

This result allowed the Montreal Canadiens farm club to score 53 points in the standings which ranks sixth in the North Division, two points behind the Rochester Americans and one place in the playoffs. Above all, it boosts the morale of a team that has suffered two consecutive losses in Place Belle against Marlies.

Ruslan Iskhakov had the first good opportunity to score in the match, midway through the first half, but his shot bounced off the post.

Defenseman William Trudeau committed a turnover that allowed the Islanders to take the lead on a two-man play a few minutes later, but they couldn't get a good shot off.

Tice Thompson thought he had scored the first goal of the game, on a power play, by retrieving the puck near the goaltender and shoving it into an abandoned cage with 13:56 left in the middle period. But the referee stopped play before Thompson shot towards the net.

The Rockets opened the valves in Bridgeport during the middle period thanks to four goals and they can clearly thank their goalkeeper Jacob Dubis for the win. The goalie made 35 stops for his first shutout of his MLS career.

“I try to be my best every game,” Dobis said. Everyone did a good job. It was a victory for the team. »

“We try not to think about it,” Paquette-Bison said of keeping a save on his goalkeeper at the end of the game. I would say we didn't give him that easy (his shot) in the third period. He made some very good saves. »

A good position in front of Kane Appleby's net, and Philippe Maillet shook the strings at the top in the ninth minute of the second half. Just 34 seconds later, Jared Davidson jumped off a rebound off a shot from Toby Bisson to give the Rockets a cushion.

Jan Misak made a fine climb into the attacking zone moments later. He discovered Philipp Cederqvist and it was the latter who made the red light shine. Emile Hayment put the finishing touches on Appleby's night with his 10th goal of the season for the Rockets.

That second goal was scored in 20 seconds, and the fourth on 25 shots, sending Appleby to the bench and Henrik Tikkanen entering the game. He made six saves.

“We got contributions from all four lines,” Rockets coach Jean-François Houle said. It wasn't always perfect, but Dobbs made some big saves to keep us in the game. I think we created a lot of chances, but in attack we were opportunistic. »

“I'm happy we scored five goals to five,” Holly added. We found some chemistry with different players and got into a good area which allowed us to score big goals, something we haven't seen in the last two games. »

Mathias Norlender returned to action for the Rocket, completing the third defensive pairing with Quebec's Olivier Galibeau. Norlender hit the post in the second half during a big attacking surge by the Rockets.

Jean-Francois Houle's men will continue their journey with stops in Hartford on Saturday to face the Wolf Pack and in Springfield on Saturday to face the Thunderbirds.