After a thrilling overtime victory in Game 5 against the Syracuse Crunch, the Laval Rocket took the ice on Sunday for the North Division Final, with a trip to the conference finals on the line. Standing in their way were the Rochester Americans, fresh off a stunning five-game upset of the Utica Comets. In front of a sold-out Place Bell, the rivals squared off for the first of potentially five games.
Both sides opted for the 11-forward, seven-defenceman route, with Nate Schnarr rejoining the lineup after missing Game 5 versus Syracuse with an injury. On defence, Mattias Norlinder was still the extra man, but was due to feature regularly based on previous games.