Rocket Weekly: A Tough Split Against Utica
Laval wrapped up 2025 on a winning note but struggled as the calendar flipped to 2026, putting in a pair of disappointing efforts at home against Utica. However, they still managed to get a victory in one of those contests, making for a successful week in the standings.
The Week That Was
Dec. 31: Laval 4, Belleville 3 – The Rocket came out strong in this one, peppering the net early but they didn’t get much to show for it. As a result, the game wound up being tied heading into the third but goals from Laurent Dauphin and Jared Davidson proved to be just enough to give Laval the win against one of their bigger rivals.
Jan. 2: Laval 5, Utica 4 (OT) – The Comets are last in the standings and the lowest-scoring team in the AHL and Laval brought an inconsistent effort to this one. They trailed by two early in the second and ultimately needed a late power play goal from Alex Belzile in the third just to tie the game. From there, Davidson was once again the hero, scoring the winner on the power play with less than a minute left in overtime.
Jan. 3: Utica 4, Laval 3 – This time, the Rocket couldn’t muster up much offensively, putting up just 13 shots over the first two periods in an effort that was far from their best. The good news is that they were better in the third with Marc Del Gaizo’s second of the game giving them the lead. The bad news is that Ethan Edwards scored twice in less than a minute before the midway mark of the third, the latter standing as the winner.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 2 | Marc Del Gaizo | 3 | 2 | 1 | +2 | 9 | 2 |
| 4 | Tobie Bisson | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Nate Clurman | 1 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Tyler Thorpe | 3 | 0 | 1 | +3 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 9 | 2 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 3 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| 17 | Alex Tuch | 3 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 2 | 5 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 3 | 4 | 3 | E | 15 | 0 |
| 26 | Will Dineen | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 3 | 1 | 3 | E | 8 | 4 |
| 28 | Josh Jacobs | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 5 |
| 44 | Josiah Didier | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 2 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 3 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 4 | 2 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 2 | 0 | E | 12 | 2 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 3 | 1 | 0 | E | 7 | 5 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 4 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 3 | 2 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 3 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 7 | 7 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 29 | Hunter Jones | 0-1-0 | 4.15 | .818 | 0 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 2-0-0 | 3.38 | .887 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Alex Belzile (18)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (27)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (38)
+/-: Laurent Dauphin (+22)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (72)
Shots: Alex Belzile (85)
News and Notes
– After being held off the scoresheet in the final game against Utica, Laurent Dauphin’s point streak came to an end at 16 games.
– Alex Belzile has been held without a point in three of his last six games. In the other three games, he has 10 points, seven of those coming this past week.
– Defenceman Marc Del Gaizo returned to the lineup from his upper-body injury.
Last Game’s Lines:
Farrell – Dauphin – Belzile
Davidson – Xhekaj – Roy
Simoneau – Condotta – Mesar
Tuch – Dineen – Thorpe
Paquette-Bisson – Reinbacher
Trudeau – Didier
Del Gaizo – Clurman
The Week Ahead
Friday at Rochester – The Americans find themselves in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic Division, albeit with games in hand on everyone that could change things. Rochester has won two of the three matchups so far with Zac Jones leading the way offensively with five points in those outings. The good news for Laval is that Jones is now up with Buffalo. Konsta Helenius, who Buffalo wouldn’t loan out for the World Juniors, is their top forward offensively while Devon Levi continues to get the bulk of the workload between the pipes, especially after Alexandar Georgiev was released to pursue a KHL deal.
Saturday at Syracuse – After the two teams had a two-game battle for first place recently, there’s a chance they’ll be fighting for that spot again in this one, depending on how the games earlier in the week go. Laval has taken two of three matchups which is the bulk of the difference between the two in the standings. Veterans Jakob Pelletier and Nick Abruzzese continue to pace the way offensively while goalie Kevin Mandolese, who attended training camp with the Rocket, was added to their roster last month.
Final Thought
After getting a lot of attention upon his return to the lineup, there hasn’t been a lot said about David Reinbacher lately. And that’s probably a good thing. His offensive production has tapered off a bit as of late; while he’s averaging just under half a point per game, he has just three assists in his last 13 contests. And with that, some speculation about a recall has gone by the wayside.
At this point, the focus shouldn’t be on how fast he can come up to the NHL. Even with Alexandre Carrier struggling a bit and Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble seeing their ice time drop by the week, that’s not a case to rush Reinbacher. Yes, he’s three years removed from being a top-five pick but injuries have taken away so much development time that he is behind the curve. The best thing that could happen for him is that he simply gets a long run of being healthy and playing big minutes with the Rocket. He’s getting that now and his defensive game is coming along nicely compared to a couple of months ago. Given that, I’m not too worried about the recent decline in production. He should be just fine in the long run.