The Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate sweep weekend doubleheader.
by Chris G, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens blogger
The Laval Rocket continued their five-game homestand by hosting the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) on Wednesday, followed by a doubleheader against the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) on Friday and Saturday.
Wednesday: Utica Comets 1 - Laval Rocket 5
The Rocket got on the board 2:23 into the contest when the rebound of Florian Xhejaj’s shot ended up on Jared Davidson’s stick and he fired the puck in the net. Later in the period, David Reinbacher pinched in to attack and redirected Laurent Dauphin’s pass for the goal while driving towards the net. While the teams were playing four-on-four, Dauphin tapped in a rebound from Alex Barre-Boulet’s shot for the three-goal lead. The Comets capitalized on a turnover by Zach Hayes from a pass that took a funny bounce in the defensive zone that led to a goal. The home team increased the lead in the third period during a power play when Logan Mailloux deflected Adam Engstrom’s shot for the goal. With less than two minutes remaining and moments after the conclusion of a two-man advantage, Joshua Roy knocked in a rebound from David Reinbacher’s shot to make it a two-goal game.
“[The first period] was not our best period. I didn’t like our second, and we played well in the third. That being said, we didn’t give any big scoring chances. We gave a couple of them and [Cayden Primeau] was excellent. It wasn’t our best game,” Pascal Vincent noted.
Friday: Rochester Americans 3 - Laval Rocket 4
Laval dominated the first period of the battle for first overall against the Americans. They outshot their opponents 11-4, primarily due to their three power plays, but failed to get on the board. Rochester gained momentum from their penalty kills and opened the scoring in the second period eight seconds after the last power play expired with a knuckle from the blue line that found its way behind Connor Hughes through traffic. The Sabres affiliate doubled their lead later in the frame while Adam Engstrom was in the box with a tic-tac-toe play that was completed from the slot. The Rocket got on the board before the intermission when Sean Farrell made a drop pass to Barre-Boulet for a one-timer goal. The captain Lucas Condotta tied the game in the third period after stealing the puck behind the net and skated to the front and beat Devon Levi. The Rocket took their first lead of the night 1:34 later when Florian Xhekaj’s shot was blocked and the puck landed to Joshua Roy’s stick and profited from Levi being out of position to score. Barre-Boulet recorded Laval’s third goal in 2:25 with a shot between the pads. Rochester cut the lead to one with 1:23 remaining while Levi was on the bench for the extra attacker.
"We played well. In the first period, we outshot them 11-4, scoring chances were 6-1 for us. Their goalie is pretty good. We have to get better at putting traffic in front of him, and when we had traffic in front of him, we weren't shooting,” Vincent said. “I thought we were the better team even when it was 0-2."
Saturday: Rochester Americans 1 - Laval Rocket 2
The Americans had trouble generating any offence to start the match, and managed to get their first shot on goal when there was 3:04 remaining in the first period. The visitors opened the scoring in the second period, when Logan Mailloux turned the puck over at the offensive blue line, which resulted in a breakaway and a goal. The Rocket tied it in the third period during a scramble in front of the net that Riley Kidney put in the goal, after the initial shot hit the post. In the final minute, following a battle won along the boards, Rafael Harvey-Pinard found Roy in the slot, and the forward used his backhander to beat Levi for his league co-leading seventh game winning goal of the season.
"We deserved the game. We played well. Our first period was probably our best period of the year. We didn't score but we were efficient with our play. In the second period a little less. They pushed back. In the third, we managed the game, and the score well,” Vincent evaluated the afternoon.
Roster News
On Friday, the Montreal Canadiens completed paper transactions assigning Owen Beck and Jakub Dobes to the AHL and immediately recalling them back. This strategy allows the Canadiens to assign both players to Laval and make them eligible for the AHL playoffs.
On trade deadline day, the Canadiens did not complete any transactions at the NHL level or any to help the Rocket.
“If everyone is healthy, we will have a lot of players. There’s also from a development perspective to allow young players to live that experience and not bring too many veterans that would give Laval a better chance, and harm the development of the young players,” Kent Hughes answered when asked if they considered adding some help for Vincent’s team. The Canadiens general manager added that Oliver Kapanen is eligible to join the AHL roster once his season overseas is completed.
Filip Mesar practised with the team on Friday with a no contact jersey since being sidelined with an upper body injury on February 17th. At the time of the injury, the club had announced an update of up to six weeks.
Skills competition
The Rocket held a skills competition on Sunday at Place Bell in front of season ticket holders. Sean Farrell won the accuracy competition nailing the four targets in 9.7 seconds, Adam Engstrom was the fastest skater with a time of 13.99 seconds, and Zach Hayes won the hardest shot with a bullet registered at 103.3 miles per hour.
Up Next
The two victories against Rochester placed the Rocket on top of the AHL standings. They wrap up the homestand on Wednesday against the Bridgeport Islanders (New York Islanders) and then head on the road to face the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) on Friday and Saturday.
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