AHL: The Rocket are having fun at home against the Islanders

Jacob Dubis made 24 saves and the Laval Rockets easily defeated the Bridgeport Islanders 5-1 on Wednesday night at Place Bell.

The result could indicate a busy night for Dobis, but he blocked some good shots in the first half, paving the way for his side.

The Rockets (26-24-8) achieved their third win in a row and collected at least one point in the fourth match in a row. The team had just swept the honors in a two-game series against the Cleveland Monsters, the top team in the North Division.

The Montreal Canadiens farm club came within one point of the Toronto Marlies and last place, allowing them to reach the North Division playoffs, but the Torontonians have three games in hand.

Olivier Galipault and Brandon Gignac each had a goal and an assist in the win. Toby Besson, Lias Anderson and Sean Farrell also threaded the needle for the Rocket.

The team's new acquisition, Arnaud Durando, was not wearing a uniform.

Julien Gauthier was the only scorer for Al Jazira (20-31-7), which suffered its second defeat in a row. Ken Appleby started the game but was chased off after allowing five goals on 22 shots. In relief, Henrik Tikkanen was perfect against 15 shots.

The two rivals will face off again on Friday night, once again at Bell Arena.

Lightning fast

Laval seemed to have a very specific game plan to start the first period and they brought several pucks into the Appleby net. However, the best scoring opportunity came off the stick of Jeff Kubiak, who was left alone in the slot, but was thwarted by Dobbs.

This stoppage may have had a major impact on the Rockets, who finally opened the scoring with just over two minutes to go. The Bisons recovered the puck left by Gabriel Burke and stunned Appleby at the glove side.

Just 56 seconds later, Matthias Norlender received a pass with his skate and passed the ball to Galipeau. The defender's goal appeared to deflect and beat the Islanders' goalkeeper.

The Rocket couldn't have asked for a better start to the second half and manhandled the visitors by hitting the goal three times at 6:39.

In short, Galipeau intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and Gignac shot on a breakaway. Laval's top scorer continued his good streak by fooling Appleby's alertness.

Another shift in the no-man's land allowed Jean-François Holly's forces to appear overmatched. Philippe Maillet lofted a pass towards Anderson, who put the puck into the top corner.

Finally, just over two minutes later, Logan Maillox accepted Gignac's pass and hit the crossbar, but Farrell pounced on the comeback to extend the lead to 5-0.

The Islanders at least had the honor of denying Dobbs a shutout at 8:51 of the second period. On the power play, Dennis Cholowski's shot hit Gauthier in front of the net and the ball slid behind the red line.

Dobes and the Rocket then did well to gain possession of the puck to confirm their win.