Reinbacher scores in a loss

On this Friday evening, the Laval Rocket hosted the Cleveland Monsters at Place Bell. Cleveland, who is a divisional rival, is in the midst of a playoff push. As for the Rocket, they were trying to maintain their first-place position in the American Hockey League. To do so, Pascal Vincent once again put his trust in Cayden Primeau, who had a shutout in his last game. We were also keeping an eye on David Reinbacher, who was playing his second game since returning to the lineup.

Here is the Rocket’s lineup for the occasion:

The lineup
#GoRocket @PizzaPizzaLtd pic.twitter.com/9bJbZsxBUa
— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) March 21, 2025

From the start of the game, Reinbacher stood out with a beautiful pass from one end of the ice to the other for Vincent Arseneau. The Quebec giant had a great chance to score but couldn’t capitalize. A good start for the Rocket, who got most of the chances early in the game. David Reinbacher impressed the crowd with a pass of about 150 feet to send Vincent Arseneau on a breakaway. Still 0-0 midway through the first period.

The whole game was a duel between Cayden Primeau and Zach Sawchenko, who both played excellent hockey in front of the net. There were no goals in the first two periods. Early in the second period, Reinbacher stood out again with a strong presence in the offensive zone. He had the puck at the point, slightly lifted the puck to get rid of his coverage, and then took a good shot at the net. The Austrian defenseman isn’t known for his offense, but we know he can come up with beautiful sequences like this.

We also saw Reinbacher being used on the powerplay on several occasions, and even though it was brief, he did very well overall. Midway through the second period, the Rocket had already taken 18 shots on Sawchenko, who was unbeatable in the first 40 minutes of play. Definitely, the start of periods seemed to be Reinbacher’s strong point. A little over three minutes into the last period, the defenseman scored with a powerful shot on reception. What a shot.

David Reinbacher gets the home crowd going. @RocketLaval | #CLEvsLAV pic.twitter.com/EGA3QaAmam
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 22, 2025

Adam Engstrom and Filip Mesar were involved in this goal. We can see from the replay above that Reinbacher really wanted the puck to take a shot and was right to ask for it. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true, as Cleveland scored two unanswered goals to take the lead 2-1. Shortly after Sean Farrell missed a great chance to tie the game, Florian Xhekaj and Laurent Dauphin broke away. They made a beautiful pass play for Xhekaj to score his 18th goal of the season.

After the goal, there was a commotion, which led to a roughing penalty for the giant. On the same sequence, Florian Xhekaj tied the game and took a penalty. pic.twitter.com/AJyS9tWcwK
— RDS (@RDSca) March 22, 2025

Late in the third, Sean Farrell was hit hard into the boards by Joseph Labate, leading to a skirmish in front of the Rocket bench. Logan Mailloux was kicked out, as was Farrell, who jumped on his assailant (four minutes each), while Vincent Arseneau also went to the box to serve time. Meanwhile, Roman Ahcan got four minutes, and Labate got two minutes. Right after this altercation, Rocco Grimaldi high-stuck Wotherspoon, negating the powerplay.

No other goals were scored, ending the regulation time. On to overtime. Interestingly, Reinbacher started the overtime period. It was finally the dangerous Trey Fix-Wolansky who sealed the win.

Overtime

– Primeau hadn’t allowed a goal in five consecutive periods before allowing Cleveland’s first goal in the third period. Nevertheless, before the goals allowed in the last 20 minutes, Primeau had allowed only three goals in his last five starts.

Cayden Primeau is currently having the best moments of his American Hockey League career. He has allowed only three goals in his last five games. Save percentage of .973!
— Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) March 22, 2025

– Sean Farrell had another strong game, with a great chance in the third period that could have tied the game 2-2.
– In general, this game (especially the third period) can be described as chaotic, with all the penalties given to both teams. There were a total of 20 minor penalties in the third period. Incredible.