Xavier Simoneau scored his first two goals of the season to lead the Laval Rocket to a second win in less than 24 hours over the Manitoba Moose, who won 5-2 on Monday.
Simoneau struck early in the first and third periods, while Olivier Galipeau and Joshua Roy scored at the end of the first and second periods and also contributed to Sean Farrell’s goal in the third period. Farrell added two assists.
It’s a worthwhile journey for the Rocket, who picked up their first two wins at opposing rinks this season after losing three times in their first three attempts.
The Rocket had their two best defensive games of the season, allowing two goals each. Before this trip, Laval had allowed four or more goals in nine of their first ten games of the season. It is also the first time this season that the Rocket have won two games in a row.
Jean-François Houle’s men therefore start well in this difficult series of five games in seven days, which continues on Wednesday with the visit of the Belleville Senators to Place Bell.
Quick goal
As in Sunday’s game, the Rockets quickly took the lead, with Xavier Simoneau scoring his first goal of the season just 1:23 minutes into the game.
Opportunistically, the Rocket doubled their lead at the end of the first period with Olivier Galipeau’s first goal of the season.
Manitoba cut the Rocket’s lead in half with a power-play goal from Wyatt Bongiovanni midway through the second period.
The Rocket struck again at the end of the quarter thanks to Joshua Roy’s seventh goal of the season, scoring in the middle period with less than two minutes to play.
After being suspended for four straight games, Roy has found his rhythm this trip to Manitoba and currently has 15 points in 12 games, just 3 fewer than American Hockey League-leading Adam Gaudette.
Strauss Mann secured the victory with 26 saves.