Fowler Gets a Shutout in Rocket Home Opener

During the game, newly signed and former Habs draft pick in 2011, defenseman Josiah Didier got into a fight with Abbotsford forward Chase Stillman. Didier went down hard on his head during the fight, but to make matters worse, Stillman threw a vicious sucker punch while his opponent was down. As a result, it left Didier bleeding a lot from the top of his head. Despite the stretcher coming out for precautionary reasons, Didier was able to get up on his own power and head back to the room. For his actions, Stillman was given a game misconduct, and supplemental discipline may occur in the next two. 

To no surprise, Didier did not return to play the rest of the game. However, it seems like Didier will be ok, as he was seen joking with his teammates in good spirits after the game. Meanwhile, head coach Pascal Vincent mentioned that the veteran defenseman wanted to return to the game but was kept out for precautionary reasons.

Now to the actual game, the first period of largely dominated by the Rocket as they fired 15 of their 26 shots on the night in the opening frame. Abbotsford goaltender Ty Young kept the Canucks in the game, despite the team only having 4 shots in the period. It took until 18:20 into the first period for the Rocket to get on the board when forward Jared Davidson scored on the power-play after he received a beautiful pass from Florian Xhekaj.

The Canucks came out much stronger in the 2nd period, outshooting the Rocket 11-7 in the frame. Thankfully, Fowler stayed strong and kept the Rocket up 1-0 through the whole period.

In the 3rd period, the Rocket took advantage of their chances to widen their lead right off the hop. Only 1:49 into the period, Filip Mesar scored his first goal of the season and his 2nd point of the game (he had an assist on Davidson’s goal), when he finished off a play between him, Owen Beck and Jared Davidson. This line proved to be a great fit throughout the night as they provided offense and also brought solid play in their own zone.

A little over 2 minutes later, Xavier Simoneau got himself on the scoresheet when he managed to get a goal after the Canucks defenseman made a bad pass, and he took advantage of it to push the puck past Young.

The 3rd period was an easy one for Fowler, who only faced 4 shots in the final frame to secure his shutout.

Much like their parent club, the Laval Rocket were able to give their fans a great show on Friday night for their home opener with a victory. The Rocket will be hoping to continue on the momentum of their home opener when they take on the Canucks once again later this afternoon at 3 pm ET at Place Bell. You can listen into the game in French on our website, as Sick Media is the official audio broadcaster of all Rocket home games.

Which prospect on the Rocket are you most excited to watch this season?