Rocket Weekly: Two Out of Three Against East’s Worst

Last week got off to a particularly rough start for Laval as they fell to the worst team in the league.  However, they were able to bounce back with a pair of victories on the road to maintain top spot in the AHL.

The Week That Was

Mar. 12: Bridgeport 5, Laval 2 – The term frustrating would be a good way to describe this one for the Rocket.  They didn’t play particularly poorly but they certainly weren’t dominating the play which was reasonable to expect given that they came into the game first overall and the Islanders 30th overall.  It wasn’t a great night for Connor Hughes while a pair of AHL ‘gunners’ led the way offensively with Alex Barre-Boulet and Chris Terry scoring a pair apiece.

Mar. 14: Laval 4, Utica 1 – The score might suggest that Laval won somewhat handily but that wasn’t really the case.  They managed just 20 shots on goal (against the second-worst team in the conference) but special teams proved to be a big difference maker with Sean Farrell and Laurent Dauphin scoring on the man advantage.  Florian Xhekaj added the other pair, including the empty-netter to clinch the win.

Mar. 15: Laval 3, Utica 2 – This was far from the Rocket’s best effort, especially in the first 40 minutes when they were outplayed and out-chanced.  While they got out to a 2-0 lead despite their sluggish play, they weren’t able to hold it with Mike Hardman and Shane Bowers scoring a minute apart near the midway point of the game.  But Laval was better in the third and was eventually rewarded with Farrell notching the winner with a little over six minutes left, giving them the two-game sweep.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIMS
2	Noel Hoefenmayer	3	0	0	-2	3	2
11	Rafael Harvey-Pinard	1	0	0	E	0	0
12	Alex Barre-Boulet	3	2	1	-1	10	2
15	Sean Farrell	3	3	2	-1	7	0
16	Alex Beaucage	1	0	0	E	0	0
18	Vincent Arseneau	3	0	1	E	2	0
21	Riley Kidney	3	0	0	-2	1	2
23	Tyler Wotherspoon	3	0	0	-1	3	0
24	Logan Mailloux	3	0	1	-3	12	4
27	Laurent Dauphin	3	1	2	-2	9	6
42	Lucas Condotta	3	0	1	E	1	2
48	Filip Mesar	3	1	0	-1	2	2
49	Jared Davidson	3	0	1	-1	4	2
56	Adam Engstrom	3	0	0	-1	2	0
62	Owen Beck	3	0	4	-1	3	0
63	Florian Xhekaj	3	2	0	E	2	4
65	Zack Hayes	3	0	2	+2	4	5
81	Xavier Simoneau	3	0	1	+1	0	0
84	William Trudeau	3	0	0	+2	1	0
86	Jakov Novak	1	0	0	E	1	0

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
30	Cayden Primeau	1-0-0	1.00	.960	0
31	Connor Hughes	1-1-0	3.00	.898	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Joshua Roy (20)
Assists: Alex Barre-Boulet (32)
Points: Alex Barre-Boulet (50)
+/-: Jared Davidson (+19)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (141)
Shots: Joshua Roy (164)

News and Notes

– As has been the case in recent weeks, there was both good news and bad news on the injury front.  The good is that Filip Mesar and Noel Hoefenmayer returned earlier than expected from their respective injuries.  The bad is that wingers Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Alex Beaucage both suffered upper-body injuries.  Harvey-Pinard is still undergoing evaluation while Beaucage is out indefinitely.  While David Reinbacher (knee) didn’t play last week, there’s no structural damage and he remains day-to-day.

– Some reinforcements were added to the roster with winger Jakov Novak and defenceman Vincent Sevigny being recalled from ECHL Trois-Rivieres.  Additionally, forward Will Dineen was signed to a tryout deal after wrapping up his collegiate career at Yale.

– Florian Xhekaj has set the franchise record for goals scored by a rookie with 17. 

Last Game’s Lines

Farrell – Dauphin – Barre-Boulet
Kidney – Condotta – Simoneau
Davidson – Beck – Mesar
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Novak

Wotherspoon – Mailloux
Engstrom – Hoefenmayer
Hayes – Trudeau

The Week Ahead

Wednesday vs Toronto – After their two-game stint in Utica, Laval kicks off another five-game stretch on home ice (before a long road trip awaits them in April).  The Marlies have scuffled a bit as of late after being in the battle for the top spot in the division only a few weeks ago; losing a pair of key youngsters in Nikita Grebenkin and Fraser Minten didn’t help in that regard.  However, they did acquire a former Laval tough guy as they picked up Brandon Baddock before the AHL trade deadline last week.

Friday/Saturday vs Cleveland – The two teams have split the head-to-head so far this season.  The Monsters are in a tight battle playoff-wise as they’re within striking distance of Toronto to finish third and avoid the play-in round while also being in a battle of three teams for those two play-in spots.  Cleveland is led offensively by AHL veterans Rocco Grimaldi and Trey Fix-Wolansky (a Rocket killer in the past) while they’re currently without starter Jet Greaves who is up with Columbus.

Final Thought

The trade deadline in the AHL has come and gone with Laval electing to not make any changes.  That’s not overly surprising as they rarely make a late move but with the injuries they had, it was fair to wonder if they might do something to add a bit more depth. 

But instead, it appears they’ll hope to survive the injuries a little while longer before potentially getting some reinforcements later on.  GM Kent Hughes has already put Oliver Kapanen’s name into the mix once his SHL playoffs wrap up sometime in April.  Vincenz Rohrer seems like a viable candidate once his postseason play in Switzerland comes to an end.  I think there’s a decent chance they’ll be able to get Tyler Thorpe relatively soon as well with his WHL team seeded sixth heading into the postseason.  Getting him a game or two could help determine their plans for him next season (WHL or Laval).

I don’t think they’ll get much help defensively, however.  Owen Protz is on a top seed in the OHL so he’s probably out of the equation while it’s unlikely Montreal will sign Luke Mittelstadt after this season so he’s probably off the table as well.  They could get Jacob Fowler to add goalie depth if he signs an entry-level deal that begins next season but if he burns a year this year in the NHL, that’s not an option.  Basically, there’s hope for some help up front next month but otherwise, this is the group they’ve got.