Aided by effective Special Teams and Captain Alex Belzile leading his troops to a good destination, the Laval Rocket ended a winless drought by defeating the Cleveland Monsters 6-2 at the Place Bell on Saturday.
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After four consecutive defeats, three of them away, Jean-François Houle’s men used a brief home game to get back to their good habits. Two power play goals gave them the lead early in the second period.
Rem Pitlick continued his unstoppable run in the American League with two points, his 21st and 22nd in 18 games. The Ontarian made a power play in the first period before becoming an accomplice in Belzile’s first of three goals after returning from the dressing room.
Midway to second, Pitlick received a not-so-expensive penalty. The Rocket scored twice on the same penalty. Lucas Condotta added the finishing touches to a fine breakaway climb from Anthony Richard, then 27 seconds later Belzile smacked poor Darion Hanson between the pads.
The captain completed his hat-trick in an empty net. Mitchell Stephens was Laval’s other scorer, 3:35 in the first period.
At the net, Kevin Poulin put in a great performance with 36 saves.
The Rocket will cross the line for a game that will face the Rochester Americans on Wednesday.