The Laval Rocket hosted the Belleville Senators in a weekend series. Friday’s match was a defensive game with each team scoring once and a shootout needed to determine a winner. All three Laval shooters missed their attempts as Belleville went on to 2-1 victory.

“I thought we were tenacious, I thought we were on the puck. We had a lot of good chances. I wish our power play would have gotten us one at the end. We hit two crossbars in overtime and I liked that we only gave up one goal,” coach Jean-Francois Houle evaluated the night.

A scary incident took place during the game when forward Xavier Simoneau was hit near the nose by Joel Teasdale‘s stick. Simoneau collapsed on the ice as he made his way to the bench. He was stretchered off and taken to hospital.

The offensive floodgates were opened on Saturday as Anthony Richard triggered the teddy bear toss 58 seconds into the contest. The 9,005 fans in attendance threw 8,845 stuffed animals on the ice to set a new Place Bell record. Laval scored four more goals in the first period and ended up with 7-4 win.

“We’ve had a lot of games like this, this year where we didn’t score. We had a ton of chances and we didn’t start the game scoring. Tonight was a little different and I was happy because for the players mental, it was nice for them to get some early goals and we’re not chasing the game,” Houle said.

In the win, goalie Joe Vrbetic recorded the win in his first AHL start, making 27 saves in the process. “It was awesome. Obviously it was great to get [the win] out of the way after the first game for the win.”

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Maine for a weekend series against the Mariners. On Friday, the Lions broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and never looked back as they headed to 3-2 win.

“When your goalie makes the big saves, it gives the team confidence. It fixes a lot of mistakes and bad situations on the ice. [Philippe Desrosiers] really got us this victory,” general manager and interim head coach Marc-Andre Bergeron said about the goalie’s 26-save performance.

Brett Stapley, Canadiens seventh round pick in 2018, netted his first goal as a professional in the victory. “I’m really happy for Brett. He’s a great hockey player. He controls the game and he brings a lot offensively. He’s a lot smarter than people think, especially defensively. He deserved this,” Bergeron said.

On Saturday, the Mariners had a two-goal lead through 40 minutes that the Lions were not able to overcome as Maine won 4-2.

“With our injuries and the recalls, we have to manage with a reduced roster at the moment. Under the circumstances, it was not a bad game. The effort was there,” Bergeron said. Over the last week, the Lions lost Olivier Galipeau and John Parker-Jones to the Rocket, while Alex Breton signed a professional tryout with the Belleville Senators.

The Lions return to Trois-Rivieres for a five-game homestand beginning with the Reading Royals visit to the Colisee Videotron on Friday.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)