Laval Rocket With 3-1 Victory Over Binghamton Devils

For the second straight night Binghamton had 37 shots while Laval tallied 33 in a battle between the goaltenders as Laval rookie Michael McNiven came up on top to lead the Rocket for a 3-1 win over veteran Eddie Lack and the Devils on Saturday at The Floyd.

The BDevils (11-18-4-2), fresh off their dismantle to the BSens on Friday, came out with a solid opening twenty minutes and controlled the play, only to see Laval with a 1-0 lead after Jordan Boucher’s hard snipe from the circle that beat Lack far side, top shelf just a tad over two minutes into the contest.

Photo provided by Alicia Strauch

In the second period the ice tilted towards the Rocket (15-16-5-2) as they peppered Lack with 13 shots and scored with an individual effort by forward Adam Cracknell with his backhander that was sent high to the corner of the net on a surprised Lack for a 2-0 lead. The Devils managed just four shots in the frame after putting up 15 in the first period.

Binghamton fought through it in the final 20 minutes but McKiven made some nice saves to help preserve the two goal advantage for Laval. However, the Devils were able to finally solve McNiven as defenseman Yaroslav Dyblenko’s slapper from the blueline was stopped, but Blake Pietila was there for the rebound from the slot for his sixth of the season to cut the lead by one with 3:31 left.

30 seconds later, Rocket rookie defenseman Simon Bourque was called for holding and the BDevils were in business, or so it appeared. With time running out and Lack pulled for the extra man, forward Daniel Audette crushed any type of comeback the Devils were thinking after he grabbed a loose puck near center ice and into the empty net the puck went that gave Laval the final 3-1 win.

It’s just the way the season has been, inconsistent and with the occasional unlucky bounce that has plagued this team.

Line-Ups

Forwards; Quenneville-Kennedy-Latta, Pietila-Kearns-Mandat, Baddock-Rooney-Thomson, Morris-Wallin. Defensemen; Strait-Jacobs, White-MacDonald, Kapla-Dyblenko. In Goal; Eddie Lack. Back up; Ken Appleby. Scratches; Austin Cangelosi (inj.), Brandon Gignac (inj.), Viktor Loov (inj.), Blake Speers (inj.) and Nathan Bastian (inj.), Nick Lappin, ill. Rooney, Strait and Kearns with the A’s.

Random Post Game Notes

• Goaltender Lack appeared in back-to-back games, including his third overall for the BDevils and is 1-1-1-0, 1.63 GAA, 0.940 SV%. (The third given up was an empty netter.) His consistent play should be a reminder for the rest of the team on what it takes to be successful. I like where this is going despite what the standings read.
• Devils continue to be much better in protecting the net with some minor skirmishes after the whistle was blown compared to earlier in the season. I know I have mentioned this before but it’s still a good sign.
• An apparent goal was waved off in the third period as goaltender interference was the call which is not reviewable in the AHL. After watching the video replay it appeared the puck didn’t cross the goal line anyways that otherwise could’ve changed the outcome.
• Binghamton missing a handful of players due to injury once again and played a forward short with Dylan Olsen the seventh defenseman. Lappin should be back (hopefully healthy) for Wednesday’s game vs Syracuse at home. The team still remains in last place in the league it should be noted.
• NJ Devils’ President Hugh Weber was in attendance along with Binghamton GM Tom Fitzgerald as they took part of a VIP party that took place before the game with STH’s in the concourse areas.

Three Stars

#1.) Adam Cracknell (1g), #2.) Blake Pietila (1g), #3.) Jordan Boucher (1g)

Video Highlights

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Upcoming Games

The Devils are in the middle of a four games in five at home as the Syracuse Crunch come to town in a midweek affair on Wednesday.