The Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate struggling on current road trip
by Chris G, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens blogger
The Laval Rocket continued their five-game road trip with a stops to face the Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals) on Wednesday, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins) on Friday, and Lehigh Valley Phantoms (Philadelphia Flyers) on Saturday.
Wednesday: Laval Rocket 3 - Hershey Bears 5
The Bears had a 2-0 lead with 1:12 remaining in the first period when Rafael Harvey-Pinard scored his first goal since being assigned by the Canadiens for conditioning. Alex Barre-Boulet tied the game later in the period in his return contest after being sidelined with an upper body injury. Hershey grabbed the lead back with a power play goal before the intermission, but Logan Mailloux evened it out with his own tally with a man advantage in the third period. The home team went ahead less than three minutes later and sealed the win with an empty netter in the final moments of the game.
Friday: Laval Rocket 3 - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5
The Rocket dominated the first period, outshooting their opponents 16-5, and got on the board late in the game with Josh Jacobs recording his first of the season. The lead lasted less than three minutes as the Penguins took advantage of a William Trudeau penalty to tie the match. Laurent Dauphin assured that his team went in the dressing room with a lead through 20 minutes by putting the puck at the back of the net with two seconds remaining. Jared Davidson doubled the lead in the second period with a power play goal in the second period, before things collapsed for Laval. The Penguins brought the teams back to square one with consecutive power play goals late in the second period, and early in the third period with Trudeau and Xavier Simoneau serving minor infractions. The game became out of reach as the home team added two more goals before the final horn.
In the final moments of the contest, the coach decided not to pull Connor Hughes for the extra attacker and the best players were on the bench while the fourth line of Vincent Arseneau, Florian Xhekaj and Jacob Perreault were on the ice.
"I will pull the goalie when I think we can win. The way we played in the third, the way we played on the power play during 5-on-3, the guys didn't show me that we can win,” Pascal Vincent explained his decision.
Saturday: Laval Rocket 3 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4
The visitors started the match strong with Davidson extending his point streak to five games with tenth goal of the season, and Dauphin scoring his 100th career AHL goal before the first intermission. The Phantoms were outplayed in the middle frame, but managed to get on the board with one of their three shots of the period. The momentum stayed in Lehigh Valley’s side in the third period as they scored three consecutive times. Alex Beaucage cut the lead to one goal with 2:05 remaining, however the Rocket did not manage to get another puck to cross the goal line before time ran out.
Roster News
The Canadiens submitted Rafael Harvey-Pinard on waivers on Saturday at the expiration of the maximum duration of his conditioning loan to the AHL. As the forward was not claimed, his tenure with the Rocket is extended. The 25-year-old has obtained one goal in five games with Laval in the final year of the deal that is worth $1,1-million. Harvey-Pinard underwent surgery for a broken leg in July that prevented him from hitting the ice until the beginning of his stint in the AHL.
Up Next
The Rocket will look into snapping their three-game road trip as they wrap up their road trip against the Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) on Wednesday. The Canadiens AHL affiliate returns to Place Bell to face the Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) on back-to-back days starting on Friday.
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