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Rocket Notepad: Opening Weekend at Place Bell |
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The Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate played their first games on home ice.
by Chris G, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens Blogger
The Laval Rocket began their home schedule by hosting the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning). There were plenty of familiar faces as Alex Barre-Boulet faced off against his former team for six seasons. Former Rocket players Jesse Ylonen, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, and Joel Teasdale returned to Place Bell for the first time since leaving the Canadiens' AHL affiliate. Behind the bench, long-time friends and former colleagues, Pascal Vincent and Joel Bouchard, competed against each other.
Friday: Syracuse Crunch 2 – Laval Rocket 5
The Rocket got on the board early as Barre-Boulet opened the scoring 1:05 into his AHL season debut with a breakaway goal. Syracuse answered with a goal early in the second, before Joshua Roy netted a power goal to give Laval the lead. The visitors brought the teams back to square one before the second intermission when a blind pass by Adam Engstrom resulted in a turnover and the puck ending up behind Jakub Dobes. Vincent's squad separated themselves from their opponents with goals by Roy, Barre-Boulet and Xavier Simoneau.
"I'm really happy with the result. We had a good start. In the second period we made a couple of adjustments, but in the third period, we played some really good hockey," Vincent said.
"It was smart hockey, but it wasn't forced. We knew our routes, we were supporting each other and we played better defensively in the third period and that's what created offence for us."
Saturday: Syracuse Crunch 0 – Laval Rocket 1
Laval struck first in the rematch as Filip Mesar found Owen Beck in the slot, and the forward buried it to record his first career goal in the American Hockey League (AHL). The division rivals were kept off the scoresheet for the remainder of the contest that resulted to Connor Hughes obtaining his first win and shoutout in the AHL.
"We played well defensively, our goalie made nice saves, our forecheck was done with purpose, and our penalty kill was excellent," Vincent said postgame.
Mailloux Recalled
As a result of Kaiden Guhle's upper body injury, Logan Mailloux was the team's first recall to the NHL. In the first weekend of the AHL season, the defenceman obtained four points in two games and was named the AHL's first star on opening night.
Mailloux made his NHL season debut on Saturday, where he scored his first career goal, while playing 19:03 in the Canadiens 4-3 shootout loss.
Barre-Boulet and Roy building chemistry
After two games with Montreal, Barre-Boulet was assigned to Laval. Martin St. Louis explained the decision that they wanted to give more ice time to Oliver Kapanen and Emil Heineman.
The 27-year-old began his journey with the Rocket by obtaining four points in the home opener against his former team the Syracuse Crunch. The performance earned him the AHL's second star of the night.
"It's more than just the offence. It's what he does on the bench. This guy speaks on the bench, he's inclusive, he's supporting his teammates, he says the right things and then he goes out there, and I see him tracking hard back to the D-zone," noted the coach following Friday's match. "On top of it, his vision on the power play is exceptional."
Barre-Boulet's arrival into the lineup appeared to have given Joshua Roy a boost of energy. Roy scored twice and added an assist playing on a line with Barre-Boulet and Brandon Gignac.
"It gives confidence," stated Roy about the pair of goals. "It has been awhile. Just by getting touches, I was sure that it would unblock. It's up to me to keep working hard and the results will come."
Next week
The Rocket play a home-and-home series against the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) over the weekend, beginning at Place Bell on Friday and at the Adirondack Bank Center the following night.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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