In front of its supporters gathered at Place Bell, the Laval Rocket ruined its first chance to end the Syracuse Crunch with a tough 3-0 loss. There will thus be a fifth and final duel to decide between the two teams. in the first round.
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Leading 2-1 in this American League series, Jean-François Houle’s men could eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning school club with a victory.
For the third time in a row, Cayden Primeau got the start in goal.
The young American goalkeeper had little to reproach himself for keeping his team in the game after Cole Koepke opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the initial engagement.
On the game, Anthony Richard made a good effort by going around the net before handing over to his teammate, left free in the enclave.
The work of the officials was hugely contested by the partisan crowd.
The first minutes of the third period, after the penalty awarded to Cédric Paquette and the subsequent net, took place under boos.
In the dungeon following a muscular altercation with Daniel Walcott, Paquette could only witness the net of Remi Elie.
The latter hit the target while Primeau, author of 34 parries, was deported from his semi-circle by traffic.
It was enough for the “white tide” at Place Bell to make his dismay even more felt.
Moments later, Anthony Richard tripled Syracuse’s lead with a sharp shot.
A bullet in the foot
The Crunch could have lost their chance to win when goalkeeper Maxime Lagacé was injured and had to leave the game.
The worst thing is that it is the gesture of his teammate Gabriel Dumont who is at the origin of this turnaround.
With a scrum in front of the net, the captain pushed Alex Belzile onto the Quebec keeper, who immediately demanded the attention of the athletic therapist.
umont, he was punished for roughness and he must have had a few cold sweats when he saw the Rocket hit the post twice on the power play.
Hugo Alnefelt was quickly thrown into the mix, and he responded well when tested.
His 23 saves allowed the visitors to get away with a significant shutout win.
The Laval players were also sorely lacking in opportunism, splitting the air more than once when making a throw.
The fifth game in this series will take place on Tuesday at Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse.
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