Danick Martel Shines with 4 Goals, Leads Laval to a 6-1 Victory Against Rochester
By Matthew Tkatch
The Laval Rocket were able to get off to a roaring start versus the Rochester Americans, in what was the first game in their best of five series. In front of their home fans at Place Bell, it was an excellent overall showing in every facet of the game.
Steamrolling their way to a 6-1 victory, this will hopefully be a sign of things to come for the Rocket, who couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. They have a quick turnaround versus the Americans, who play the second half of a back to back tomorrow, May 23rd at 7PM at Place Bell.
The start of the game got off to a slow start, with both teams still in their feeling-out process. Eventually, it was Rochester who was able to get the opening goal of the series, with forward JJ Peterka scoring first. This broke almost seventeen minutes of scoreless action, and gave Rochester a 1-0 lead. Laval wasted no time evening out the score, when Danick Martel successfully deflected the puck into the net only two minutes later. This would be the first of four goals for Martel, who played a nearly perfect game.
The second period is when the party got started for Laval, where they scored three of their total goals in a seven-minute span. Danick Martel scored his second of the game at the five-minute mark, giving the Rocket their first lead of the game. This very quickly avalanched into a massive scoring run for Laval. The other goals in the period included a gorgeous Cédric Paquette one-timer, as well as Martel completing his hat trick. The Rocket took advantage of a shell-shocked Rochester defence, pushing their lead to 4-1 as they headed into the 2nd intermission. This also marked when the Americans made a change at goaltender, replacing starter Aaron Dell with backup Michael Houser.
The third period was more of the same for the Rocket, who continued the same success they had throughout the majority game. Danick Martel continued to dominate, scoring a power play goal which was assisted by Sami Niku and Louie Belpedio. The onslaught didn’t end there, with Nate Schnarr nabbing his first goal of the season as well. With tensions beginning to rise between the two teams, we look to be in store for a very entertaining series between the two teams.
A memorable night for Laval all in all, which was headlined by Danick Martel absolutely bonkers performance. His efforts naturally earned him the first star of the game, with Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau coming in second, followed by Rafaël Harvey-Pinard coming in third. The Rocket will look to build off their dominant performance tomorrow, where Game 2 looms large for both teams. The game versus the Rochester Americans will take place at 7PM at Place Bell.
