Yannick Veilleux scored on the power play to open the second period which then opened the floodgates as the Laval Rocket coasted to a 5-1 win over the Belleville Senators. It was the second game of the season for both teams. Laval also won Friday’s season opener 5-1.
Veilleux’s goal at 57 seconds of the period broke a 1-1 tie and touched off a four goal spree by Laval as they kept rookie goaltender Kevin Mandolese busy with 16 shots while building a 5-1 lead.
Mandolese was making his professional debut after starring with the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. As if making his professional debut wasn’t enough he was doing it in his hometown of Montreal. The Rocket will play their home games at the Bell Centre this season which is also home to the Canadiens.
Laurent Dauphin scored at 17:56 of the first period to give Laval the lead however sophomore forward Parker Kelly sniped his first of the season 1:14 later to tie the score at 1.
Veilleux with his second, Lukas Vejdemo and rookie Rafael Harvey-Pinard added goals in the second period. There was no scoring in the third period.
Laval finished with 41 shots while Laval’s Michael McNiven handled 26.
Senators Coach Troy Mann says he was happy with his team’s start, compared to Friday night, but they couldn’t sustain the effort.
“I certainly liked our start. I thought the first period was much better, we felt good going into the second. But certainly there was a number of defensive breakdowns and once they got the fourth and fifth one we just didn’t recover. The third period was pretty much just a game of shinny to get the game over with.”
As far as Mandolese’s performance goes, Mann felt the young goaltender handled his emotions well, but was a victim of some defensive breakdowns.
“I’m sure he was excited. Any time you can play in the Bell Centre and in your home town it’s special. Overall I thought he was solid and and made some saves. There was a number of defensive breakdowns where he made some saves to keep us in the game at times as well.”
The Senators and Rocket will meet twice more this week with games in Montreal Tuesday and next Friday night.
