On the heels of a dominant 5-2 victory Wednesday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Laval Rocket kicked off a two-game series with the Springfield Thunderbirds. Friday night’s contest would feature a few lineup changes, with Cale Fleury stepping back in and Hayden Verbeek suiting up for his professional debut on a line with Lukas Vejdemo and Alexandre Grenier. The two rookies took the places of Michal Moravu010dík and Daniel Audette, respectively, with both needing to improve a bit, in the words of head coach Joël Bouchard.
Between the pipes for the Rocket was Charlie Lindgren who was looking to improve on another solid showing, while Samuel Montembault tried to hold down the fort for Springfield.