Laval Evens Out the Series Versus Springfield, Rebounds with a 4-2 Victory against the Thunderbirds
By Matthew Tkatch
Laval handed Springfield their first loss of the Calder Cup playoffs, after a solid showing Sunday afternoon at MassMutual Center. The series-tying game showed much offensive improvement, and gives the Rocket something to build off of as they now head back home to Laval. Game 3 will be played on Wednesday June 8th at 7PM EST.
Laval was clearly playing with a chip on their shoulder, after having Springfield steal Game 1 from them in the final minutes. This translated to the scoreboard, as Laval was able to get the night going early. It was Brandon Gignac who scored the opening goal in just over five minutes, and provided Laval a 1-0 lead. It wasn’t much longer until the Rocket doubled their lead, with a Jesse Ylönen score coming only six minutes later. Luckily for Springfield, they were able to get some offence of their own, scoring their first goal of the game with just over five minutes left in the period. Going into the first intermission, Laval led the game with a 2-1 advantage.
The second period was all Laval, adding an additional two goals to their tally thus far. First, it was assistant captain Alex Belzile who pushed the Laval goal total to three. One thing that was clear in Game 2 was the aggression and physicality from both teams. The period was capped off with a score from Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who extended Laval’s lead to 4-1.
An early third period goal from the Thunderbirds cut the Laval lead to only two, however that would be the last of the goals for either team for the rest of the game. The third period was fairly uneventful following the early third period goal from Springfield, with the score remaining 4-2 until the end of regulation. It was a large improvement from the Laval Rocket, having only been able to score one goal yesterday in Game 1 versus the Thunderbirds. With an already strong defence, Laval will look to continue their winning ways Wednesday June 8th at 7PM EST, when the Rocket return home to Place Bell for Game 3.
