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Laval Rocket: Looking for more diamonds in Chocolate Town

By Omar L |
LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 13: Head coach of the Laval Rocket Sylvain Lefebvre looks on from behind the bench against the Binghamton Devils during the AHL game at Place Bell on October 13, 2017 in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Binghamton Devils 8-7 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 13: Head coach of the Laval Rocket Sylvain Lefebvre looks on from behind the bench against the Binghamton Devils during the AHL game at Place Bell on October 13, 2017 in Laval, Quebec, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Binghamton Devils 8-7 in overtime. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

The Laval Rocket are set to play their first game at the Giant Centre as they’ll be looking to quickly respond from a close loss the night before.

Friday night’s game for the Laval Rocket fell into the similar formula. Laval comes out strong, gets the lead, loses the lead, and can’t get it back. Both teams looked strong in all areas, but an early roughing penalty to Jordan Boucher gave the Binghamton Devils the opportunity to gain the edge in the game. It’ll take an effort equal to or even greater than that to get a win over the Hershey Bears even though they’re lower in the standings.

Sylvain Lefebvre had to make some last minute changes ahead of yesterday’s game after Kerby Rychel was called up to the Montreal Canadiens. His absence definitely had an impact on Laval’s power play who wasn’t able to convert on any of the five opportunities Binghamton gave them. Nikita Korostelev got the bump up to the top line next to Adam Cracknell and Chris Terry but didn’t stand out as much as he’d like.

However, someone who did stand out was Trevor Owens who came away from that game with an assist and a nice one at that. The 24-year-old looked really smooth on the ice and was in the right spots defensively throughout the game. The coaching staff’s confidence in Owens was made apparent as he was given more ice time as the night continued and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him draw into the lineup tonight.

Johnny Austin and Bailey Webster were scratched in last night’s game so it’ll be interesting to see whether one of them draw in. If they do, they’ll have to do their part to make the kind of impacts Owens has. The same goes for Adam Plant who also made his AHL debut.

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Besides the chance of breaking a six-game losing streak, there’s also Terry and his race for the scoring lead to track. His shorthanded goal brought his total to 66 points which still has him tied with Phil Varone who added to his tally as well. It looks like it’s going to be a tight battle for the remainder of the season, but Terry can bridge the gap with an offensive night.

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