HabsWorld.net --
Laval had a pair of games that had them in a battle for first place in the league last week. It took a pair of comebacks but they picked up wins in both games, vaulting themselves into first overall for the time being.
The Week That Was
Mar. 5: Laval 5, Utica 1 – On paper, this was the easiest game for Rocket and while they were hardly dominant in the first period, they took advantage of the Comets not having their starting goalie available, potting three on Isaac Poulter in the opening frame including David Reinbacher’s first of the season. After a sluggish second, Laval picked it up in the third, adding a pair to run away with the win, Cayden Primeau’s fourth straight victory.
Mar. 7: Laval 4, Rochester 3 – Despite a strong first period, the Rocket had to work from behind in this one after allowing a pair in the second. However, they got one back leading into the third and a little past the midway mark of the third, they had one of their most dominant stretches of the season, scoring three goals in less than three minutes with each line having some offensive pressure. Rochester got one back late but Laval was able to narrowly hold on for the win.
Mar. 8: Laval 2, Rochester 1 – The rematch saw each team have one strong period and one weaker one to start and again, Laval was down a goal heading into the final frame. But once again, they came back but in more dramatic fashion. Riley Kidney tied it up with less than seven minutes left, setting the stage for Joshua Roy to pot the winner in the final minute to sweep the back-to-back set.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 3 | 3 | 0 | +2 | 11 | 2 |
| 11 | Rafael Harvey-Pinard | 3 | 0 | 2 | +2 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Barre-Boulet | 3 | 2 | 1 | +2 | 10 | 0 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | Alex Beaucage | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Vincent Arseneau | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | Riley Kidney | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 0 |
| 24 | Logan Mailloux | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 0 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 3 | 1 | 4 | +4 | 8 | 2 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 3 | 1 | 1 | E | 3 | 4 |
| 46 | Vincent Sevigny | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 2 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 8 | 0 |
| 56 | Adam Engstrom | 3 | 0 | 1 | +6 | 5 | 2 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 3 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 3 | 7 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 2 | 1 | 1 | +4 | 5 | 2 |
| 65 | Zack Hayes | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 2 |
| 79 | Logan Nijhoff | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 4 | 2 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 5 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 30 | Cayden Primeau | 2-0-0 | 1.00 | .964 | 0 |
| 31 | Connor Hughes | 1-0-0 | 3.00 | .880 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Joshua Roy (20)
Assists: Alex Barre-Boulet (31)
Points: Alex Barre-Boulet (47)
+/-: Jared Davidson (+20)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (137)
Shots: Joshua Roy (164)
News and Notes
– Laval got a bit of injury relief with Vincent Arseneau returning to the lineup in his usual spot on the fourth line. In corresponding moves, Jakov Novak was sent back to ECHL Trois-Rivieres while Logan Nijhoff was released from his PTO deal. Defenceman Vincent Sevigny has been sent down and recalled twice each within recent days.
– Jakub Dobes and Owen Beck were sent to Laval on paper transactions at the trade deadline, maintaining their eligibility to play with the Rocket for the remainder of the season and playoffs.
– Speaking of Beck, he’ll get that opportunity quicker than some expected as he was sent back to the Rocket with Joshua Roy going up on an emergency basis with Patrik Laine sick.
Last Game’s Lines
Farrell – Dauphin – Barre-Boulet
Harvey-Pinard – Condotta – Roy
Simoneau – Xhekaj – Davidson
Arseneau – Kidney – Beaucage
Wotherspoon – Mailloux
Trudeau – Engstrom
Sevigny – Hayes
The Week Ahead
Wednesday vs Bridgeport – The five-game home stand wraps up with a visit from the worst team in the league by a country mile. With 31 points, they’re 18 behind Henderson for the worst point total in the league and 21 behind Utica for the worst point total in the conference. They should, however, get Jakub Skarek back for this one to help stabilize them in net while they also boast the second-best scorer in the league, former Hab Chris Terry.
Friday/Saturday at Utica – Not a whole lot has changed since they met last week but they are the second-hottest team in the division in their last ten games with only Laval boasting a better record. They lost their second-best scorer (Adam Beckman) at the trade deadline but they have got promising rookie Seamus Casey back to boost their back end. Former Rocket winger Nathan Legare has 16 points in 51 games this season; he had nine in 39 outings with the Rocket last year before being traded after the deadline.
Final Thought
The AHL is a league that often features a handful of veterans who really lead the way offensively with the rest of the players being a fair distance back from them in the team scoring race. Heading into the year, it looked like Laval could be one of those teams after they added Alex Barre-Boulet, a player who has been among the AHL’s elite offensively.
Barre-Boulet does lead Laval in points but with a seven-point lead, it’s not too dramatic. Instead, the Rocket has had much more of an offence-by-committee approach. They have seven forwards with double-digit goals already plus blueliner Logan Mailloux. By comparison, Rochester, the top-scoring team in the division, has five. It’s not inconceivable that they could have five players reach 20 goals (Joshua Roy already has). They had all of two last season (Philippe Maillet and Lias Andersson checked in at 21 apiece).
The nice thing is that it isn’t just the veterans leading the way. Yes, Barre-Boulet and Laurent Dauphin are in that group of double-digit scorers but the other six are still on entry-level contracts with the oldest being Sean Farrell at 23. That’s the biggest difference for this Laval team, it’s a much deeper group that can be carried by two or three different lines on any given night. While the playoffs are generally dominated by the older teams, that type of balanced scoring could be a big difference maker when the postseason opens up a month from now.
