Brandon Gignac broke the tie late in the third period and the Laval Rocket beat Syracuse Crunch 3-2 on Saturday at Upstate Medical University Arena in Game 2 of their North Division semi-final.
Rocket tied the series at 1-1 in the best of five games. The third and fourth parts will be shown on Thursday and Saturday at Place Bell.
Gignac scored the win with 1:47 left in regulation time. He forgot behind the Crunch defense and scored on the backhand.
After making several defensive mistakes in Game 1, which they lost 5-3, the Rockets redeemed themselves with a more convincing performance in their territory on Saturday. And when Crunch knocked on the door, Cayden Primeau was solid.
Primeau made 37 saves. Veteran Kevin Poulin was preferred over him for the first meeting of the series.
Alex Belzile and Jesse Ylönen also hit the mark for the Rocket, making the American Hockey League playoffs for the first time in its five -year history.
Simon Ryfors and Daniel Walcott answered for Crunch, while Maxime Lagacé stopped for 25 shots.
After scoring two goals in power play the previous day, Crunch closed out five times in Game 2. For its part, Rocket was one of four on Saturday.
Also added to the Rocket roster were Defender Mattias Norlinder and forward Devante Smith-Pelly, who replaced forwards Lucas Condotta and Jean-Christophe Beaudin. This means head coach Jean-François Houle has 11 attackers and seven defenders.
Primeau in height
Crunch started the fight by scoring after 5:37 of play. Ryfors deflected a shot from Ryan Jones behind Primeau.
The local team returned to charge in the following minutes, but fought Primeau.
Beautiful shoulders abound after that, as well as scrums. Cédric Paquette went it with a flexible back against Walcott, while Pierre-Cédric Labrie played Rocket defenseman Corey Schueneman.
Rocket tied the game with 2:27 remaining in the first period in a power play. Ylönen moved the strings with a powerful one-timer shot.
Walcott was briefly sent to dreamland by taking a good shoulder shot from Louie Belpedio, but the Crunch striker remained in the game.
Crunch had some good chances to come back from intermission, but Primeau closed the door.
Rocket finally took the lead in 6:27, when Belzile received a perfect pass in the slot from rival Remi Elie. Belzile followed with a good pretense, then an accurate backhand shot.
Danick Martel missed an open net for the Rocket at the start, then the visitors bombarded Lagacé’s cage.
The Crunch keeper, however, was not deterred. Lagacé frustrated Belpedio during a Rocket powerplay, then made an amazing save with his mitt at Ylönen’s expense.
Crunch quietly regained its momentum. Primeau had to be alert to prevent Anthony Richard from a shorthanded breakaway. The Rocket goaltender also stretched his right leg to make a tough save against Cole Koepke late in the second period.
Rocket limited Crunch’s chances in the third period until Walcott tied the game with 7:20 left in regulation. The Crunch agitator took advantage of the comeback after Gabriel Fortier’s push following a turnover in the neutral zone.
Crunch had a good chance to close the books before extra time when Ylönen was called for high batting in less than five minutes, but Primeau closed the door.
Gignac then played the heroes by doing it twice to beat Lagacé in 1:47 to go into regulation time.
Source: Radio-Canada
