Laval Rocket Defeats BDevils 4-1

A February snowstorm that dumped nearly eight inches kept many Binghamton Devils’ fans away in Wednesday’s night game at The Floyd against Laval, and it turned out to be a good thing as the Laval Rocket was on the winning side by a score of 4-1, led by goaltender Zachary Fucale’s 24 saves.

The low turnout of roughly 500 in attendance witnessed the home loss that otherwised put an end of a good weekend, with Binghamton taking three out of four points against the BSens on Friday, and the Amerks on Saturday. But that’s been the case as far as consistency, or the lack of this season.

Rocket forward Markus Eisenschmid gave his team a 1-0 lead with 6.4 seconds left in the opening period past Devils’ netminder Ken Appleby, who was playing in his first game since being sent back by the parent club in NJ for veteran Eddie Lack. Appleby finished the night with 22 saves.

Laval scored again as Michael McCarron made it a two goal cushion on a shorthanded play in the second period at 14:03, even though the shot advantage was on the side of the Devils 14-4, reversing what took place in the opening frame.

In the final period, the Rocket made it 3-0 after rookie forward Thomas Ebbing scored his first pro goal in 21 games just over two minutes in.

BDevils finally answered as Blake Speers scored his sixth in his rookie campaign a little more than three minutes later, but an empty net goal by Jeremy Gregoire ended the night in favor of the Rocket.

Line-Ups

Forwards; Speers-Kearns-Lappin, Mandat-Kennedy-Hayes, Thomson-Cangelosi-Bastian, Baddock-Penny. Defensemen; Loov-Santini, Strait-Jacobs, Kapla-MacDonald, Dyblenko. In Goal; Ken Appleby Back up; Colin Stevens. Scratches; Brandon Gignac (inj.), Michael Latta (inj.), Kevin Rooney (inj.), Kevin Morris and Jake Walman. Kearns, Loov and Rooney with the A’s.

Random Post Game Notes

• An announced crowd of 2119 wasn’t even close, as I don’t ever recall a lower crowd count but I also missed this game due to the inclement weather.
• Jimmy Hayes played in his third game for his conditioning stint and can be extended for another three games if NJ elects to, with an overall two week limit I believe.
• Shots were 26-25 in favor of Laval with both clubs going 0-fer on the power play.
• Again I didn’t see this one so we are rather brief on player outcomes, but with a 7-13-3-1 home record, it stands as the lowest in the league.

Three Stars

#1.) Michael McCarron (1g), #2.) Markus Eisenschmid (1g), #3.) Blake Speers (1g)

Video Highlights

N/A

Upcoming Games

A pair of weekend games are in store for the Binghamton Devils as they take on the Toronto Marlies this Saturday and on Sunday with both contests slated for a 4:00 pm start.