The Comets had a strong shift to start the match, with Jonathan Gruden receiving a pass from Nathan Legare at the top of the crease, but Laval netminder Kaapo Kahkonen made a nice save to keep the Comets off the board. The Comets were awarded a penalty at 3:46 when Ethan Edwards was called for interference. On the ensuing power play, Nico Daws made a great save, robbing a backdoor feed from Laval forward Alex Belzile, who then took a tripping penalty to negate the rest of the Rocket power play. The Comets would come up short again later in the period, facing a lengthy 5-on-3 that they were able to shut down thanks to some fantastic work from the penalty kill units and Nico Daws in net, who knocked aside all ten shots he faced in the first period.
The tight pace continued into the second period, with neither team giving the other much space. Nico Daws continued his strong play in net, stopping all nine shots he faced in the second. The physicality turned up a notch towards the end of the period when Laval forward Sammy Blais was called for firsthand and Xavier Simoneau was assessed a total of 14 penalty minutes for firsthand bashing, cutting and a sustained altercation violation. The Comets went on a four-minute extended power play and with just 30 seconds left in the second, Angus Crookshank tipped a Topias Vilen shot to the ball to give the Comets a 1-0 lead on his 14th of the year. Kyle Criscuolo picked up the secondary assist.
The Comets started the third period with 1:31 left on the power play, but the Rocket negated the balance of the penalty. Laval took another penalty shortly after when Alex Belzile was called for tripping, and the Comets would not be denied this time as Angus Crookshank fed Kyle Criscuolo out the back door to beat Kahkonen by five and give the Comets a 2-0 lead at 4:07. It was Criscuolo’s seventh of the year, with Matyas Melovsky picking up the secondary assist. Laval would be assessed another penalty later in the period when Sammy Blais was called for hooking and Mike Hardman scored on a wrist shot that broke through Kahkonen from the right circle at 12:51 on the ensuing power play for his sixth of the year. Ryan Schmelzer picked up the primary assist, making him the new franchise leader in regular season points as he picked up his 176th point as a member of the Comets.
The Rocket would make it a 3-1 game later in the third when Alex Belzile finished off a cross-crease pass from Sammy Blais at 17:44, but the Comets would prevail for a 3-1 victory as they took five of six points in their 3-in-3 weekend series to extend the points streak to three games.
The Comets were outrebounded by the Rocket 30-14, while going 3-for-8 on the power play and 4-for-5 on the penalty kill. The Comets’ three power-play goals marked a season high in a single game.
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