OFFENSIVE OUTBURST LEADS THE ROCKET TO 6-1 WIN OVER THE MARLIES
LAVAL (December 28, 2019) – The Laval Rocket scored early and often in Saturday’s matinee against the Toronto Marlies, earning a convincing 6-1 victory in front of an electric crowd of 8,459 at Place Bell – the team’s second largest attendance of the season thus far.
The Rocket’s torrid pace from Friday night’s game carried over into Saturday’s contest and it paid dividends on the scoreboard. Yannick Veilleux, Charles Hudon (2), Xavier Ouellet, Ralph Cudemmi and Jake Evans all found the back of the net for the Rocket; Teemu Kivihalme had the lone Marlies goal.
Veilleux kicked things off for the Rocket, deflecting a Karl Alzner point shot past Joseph Woll. Later, Hudon showed off some hand-eye coordination of his own, tipping Gustav Olofsson’s shot into the Marlies net. This, coupled with Hudon’s second goal later in the game, brought the duo’s point total to eight in four games against the Marlies this year (Hudon – 4G, Olofsson – 4A). Kivihalme netted a power play marker for the Marlies late in the period to cut the deficit in half at the intermission.
It did not take long for the Rocket to regain their two-goal cushion, however. Less than a minute after play restarted in the second, Ouellet found the back of the Marlies net – Hudon made it a 4-1 game just 37 seconds later. At the 8:15 mark of the second, Ralph Cudemmi added to the Rocket lead when he banged home his first goal in the professional ranks. The Rocket held a 34-11 lead in the shot department after the second period.
Jake Evans reached the 20-point mark – and added his 21st point in the third – on Saturday afternoon, becoming the first Rocket player to reach the milestone this season. Cayden Primeau made 26 saves in the game to earn his eighth win of the year.
“It went well today. Jake made a great pass on my goal and I think our line played very well. We wanted to come out stronger than last night and we did just that. The game ended with a lopsided score but I think that well represents how we played and now we’re moving on to the next game,” said Charles Hudon following a two-goal performance.
Marqueurs/Scorers
LAV: Veilleux (Alzner, McCarron) | Hudon (Olofsson, Cox) | Ouellet (Veilleux) | Hudon (Evans) | Cuddemi (Alzner, Alain) | Evans (Cudemmi, Leskinen)
TOR: Kivihalme (Bracco, Petan)
Unités spéciales/Special teams
LAV | AN/PP: (0/1) | IN/PK: (5/6) || TOR | AN/PP: (1/6) | IN/PK: (1/1)
Gardiens/Goaltenders
LAV: Primeau (26/27) | TOR: Woll (18/23) | (14/15)
Trois étoiles/Three stars
1. Yannick Veilleux – LAV | 2. Jake Evans – LAV | 3. Charles Hudon – LAV
