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It took nearly a month but Montreal’s offence was out in full force last week as they picked up a trio of wins.  Laval continued their offensive run as well as they picked up a pair of wins while continuing to be the highest-scoring team in the AHL.

Spotlight Players

Artturi Lehkonen: It was nice to see him finally get on the scoresheet.  It was also nice to see most of the fan base stay patient with him instead of clamouring for him to be dropped down in the lineup.  The production isn’t always there but there isn’t much flux in his game-to-game performance and that type of consistency is valuable, especially when he’s being asked to be the defensively-responsible one on a top line.

Michael McCarron: How much longer is this experiment going to last?  He’s not an upgrade on anyone they really have (other than maybe Jacob de la Rose but the difference is negligible).  People talk about the physical dimension he brings to the lineup but there’s also the guaranteed penalty dimension; he just can’t stay out of the box.  Considering Montreal’s penalty kill ranges from bad to laughable at the moment, that’s a huge problem to have.  The sooner he’s back in Laval working on his all-around game (and how not to take a penalty almost every game), the better.

Victor Mete: It’s really quite something how much his ice time has dropped all of a sudden.  He’s starting to get exposed a bit more and it’s nice to see the team trying to shield him a bit rather than keeping him out there with Shea Weber every shift.  If this continues over the next few weeks, it will be fair to wonder if he’s better off finishing in junior (or at least going to the World Juniors) but the Habs are a long way from having to make that call and a lot can change between now and then.

StatPack

Skaters:

# Player GP G A +/- PIMS SOG ATOI
6 Shea Weber 4 0 5 +3 0 11 27:13
8 Jordie Benn 4 0 1 +3 0 9 19:16
11 Brendan Gallagher 4 3 2 +5 2 10 16:16
14 Tomas Plekanec 4 2 2 +5 0 7 17:00
17 Torrey Mitchell 4 0 0 E 2 3 9:36
22 Karl Alzner 4 0 0 +3 0 4 22:18
24 Phillip Danault 4 0 3 E 2 13 17:34
25 Jacob de la Rose 1 0 0 E 0 1 5:53
26 Jeff Petry 4 1 1 +1 6 14 21:19
27 Alex Galchenyuk 4 1 2 E 0 9 14:49
34 Michael McCarron 4 0 0 E 8 1 7:12
41 Paul Byron 4 0 1 +4 4 5 15:20
45 Joe Morrow 2 1 1 +2 0 2 11:51
53 Victor Mete 4 0 0 +2 2 3 13:16
54 Charles Hudon 3 2 2 +4 2 4 11:40
62 Artturi Lehkonen 4 2 0 +3 0 9 16:43
65 Andrew Shaw 4 3 0 -2 0 11 17:11
67 Max Pacioretty 4 2 4 -2 4 17 19:14
88 Brandon Davidson 2 0 0 E 5 1 15:10
92 Jonathan Drouin 4 1 2 +2 2 11 18:10

Goalies:

# Player Record GAA SV% SO
31 Carey Price 0-1-0 5.02 .808 0
35 Al Montoya 2-0-0 3.42 .863 0
39 Charlie Lindgren 1-0-0 0.00 1.000 1

Team Leaders:

Goals: Brendan Gallagher (6)
Assists: Drouin/Weber (8)
Points: Drouin/Gallagher/Weber (11)
+/-: Jordie Benn (+2)
PIMS: Andrew Shaw (20)
Shots: Max Pacioretty (65)

Laval Report

The week didn’t get off to a good start for the Rocket as they lost their first game but they followed it up with a pair of victories against division rival Syracuse.

News and Notes:

– Chris Terry did not play in any of the games due to a lower-body injury.  He’s listed as day-to-day as is Antoine Waked who also missed a pair of games due to illness.

– Thomas Ebbing was recalled from Brampton with the injuries up front while Michael McNiven was brought up with Charlie Lindgren now in Montreal for the time being.  Karel St-Laurent dressed as the backup on Friday as McNiven wasn’t able to make it in time.

– Byron Froese was voted as team captain while Chris Terry and Matt Taormina will wear the ‘A’.  With Terry out of the lineup, Nicolas Deslauriers served as the other alternate.

– Lines from last game:

Forwards:

Carr – Froese – Baun
Deslauriers – Holland – Audette
Veilleux – Petti – Gregoire
Broll – Ebbing – Boucher

Defence:

Taormina – Lernout
Parisi – Jerabek
Gelinas – Leblanc

Results:

November 1: Toronto 3, Laval 0
November 3: Laval 6, Syracuse 5 (SO)
November 4: Laval 5, Syracuse 2

StatPack

Skaters:

# Player GP G A +/- SOG PIMS
2 Eric Gelinas 3 1 0 E 7 4
3 Jakub Jerabek 3 1 1 +2 3 6
4 Simon Bourque 1 0 0 E 0 0
5 Tom Parisi 3 0 0 -1 4 2
6 Stefan Leblanc 3 0 0 -2 1 4
11 Daniel Carr 3 1 1 -3 10 2
12 Kyle Baun 3 0 0 E 5 2
14 Brett Lernout 3 0 1 +2 3 4
15 Thomas Ebbing 2 0 0 E 0 0
19 Antoine Waked 1 0 0 E 0 0
21 Byron Froese 3 1 2 -3 4 0
23 Niki Petti 3 0 2 E 2 4
24 Daniel Audette 3 1 1 E 5 2
27 Peter Holland 3 3 2 +4 8 0
28 Yannick Veilleux 2 0 0 +2 0 0
34 David Broll 3 0 0 E 1 4
37 Jeremy Gregoire 3 0 2 +1 3 0
39 Jordan Boucher 3 0 0 -1 2 2
40 Matt Taormina 3 1 1 +2 8 0
44 Nicolas Deslauriers 3 1 0 +2 2 6

Goalies:

# Player Record GAA SV% SO
30 Zach Fucale 2-0-0 3.38 .896 0
35 Charlie Lindgren 0-1-0 3.00 .906 0

Shootout – Skaters:

# Player G/ATT
11 Daniel Carr 0/1
21 Byron Froese 1/1
24 Daniel Audette 0/1
27 Peter Holland 1/1

Shootout – Goalies:

# Player SVS/SF
30 Zach Fucale 3/4

Team Leaders:

Goals: Daniel Carr (7)
Assists: Matt Taormina (11)
Points: Matt Taormina (13)
+/-: Baun/Jerabek (+9)
PIMS: David Broll (23)
Shots: Daniel Carr (40)

Upcoming Schedule:

November 11: Laval vs Springfield
November 12: Laval vs Hartford

Final Thought

Charlie Lindgren’s performance against Chicago opened a lot of eyes as to the type of potential he might have.  Most would say at this point he’s ahead of Al Montoya in terms of talent but with this only being his second professional season and the fact he’s waiver-exempt, it makes sense that they’ve started him in the minors and I don’t think this one game really changes that.  When Carey Price returns, Lindgren should still be the one to go down as he needs playing time.

What this start (and any subsequent ones) might do is convince management to be flexible with the 23rd roster spot.  That way, they could potentially spot start him here and there as the season progresses.  That could lighten Price’s workload a bit while giving Lindgren a chance to push for the backup role next year and still maximizing his playing time in Laval.  Unless Lindgren really goes on a run here, that’s probably the best he can hope for.  All things considered, that’s not half bad for a second-year pro.