After a tough week in Cleveland, the Rocket returned home with a tough matchup in Syracuse, a team tied with them for the division lead. While Laval started off slow, they managed to get victories in both games to move back atop the North Division.
The Week That Was
Dec. 27: Laval 4, Syracuse 3 (SO) – Despite getting three key forwards back from suspension, the Rocket came out as flat as they did against Cleveland. The end result was a two-goal deficit early in the second, one that looked like was going to carry over to the third before William Trudeau scored a last-second goal on their ninth shot of the game. Laval came out and took the lead fairly quickly in the third but couldn’t hold it as Wojciech Stachowiak tied it with around seven minutes left. Overtime solved nothing but the Rocket scored on three of their four shootout attempts to get the extra point.
Dec. 28: Laval 4, Syracuse 2 – Given the importance of the game, Pascal Vincent opted to start Kaapo Kahkonen in back-to-back games, a decision that worked out quite well as he made 31 stops. Meanwhile, the Rocket scored in the last minute of the first and the first minute of the second to give themselves an advantage they wouldn’t relinquish. Laval’s power play was sharp, scoring on both opportunities.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 4 | Tobie Bisson | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Nate Clurman | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Tyler Thorpe | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 2 | 1 | 2 | E | 6 | 0 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 2 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Alex Tuch | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 2 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | Ryan O’Rourke | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Will Dineen | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 2 | 0 | 3 | +1 | 6 | 0 |
| 28 | Josh Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 2 | 1 | 0 | E | 2 | 2 |
| 44 | Josiah Didier | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 2 | 0 | 1 | E | 1 | 2 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 2 | 2 | 0 | E | 7 | 0 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 2 | 0 | 2 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 2 | 1 | 1 | E | 4 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 2-0-0 | 2.40 | .928 | 0 |
Shootout – Skaters:
| # | Player | G/ATT |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 1/1 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 1/1 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 1/1 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 0/1 |
Shootout – Goalies:
| # | Player | SVS/SF |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 2/4 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Alex Belzile (14)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (24)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (34)
+/-: Laurent Dauphin (+22)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (67)
Shots: Laurent Dauphin (72)
News and Notes
– With Samuel Montembeault going back up to the Habs to end his conditioning stint, Hunter Jones was once again recalled from Trois-Rivieres of the ECHL.
– Filip Mesar has gone five straight games without a point and hasn’t scored in 12 straight contests.
– Laurent Dauphin enters this week on a 14-game point streak.
Last Game’s Lines:
Farrell – Dauphin – Belzile
Davidson – Xhekaj – Roy
Simoneau – Condotta – Mesar
Tuch – Dineen – Thorpe
Paquette-Bisson – Reinbacher
Trudeau – Didier
Clurman – Jacobs
The Week Ahead
Wednesday at Belleville – There’s no point in previewing this one as the game was already played before this column was posted. Good news, they won.
Friday/Saturday vs Utica – To say this has been a rough season for the Comets would be an understatement. They sit dead last in the AHL in terms of points and goals scored, barely above two per game. Rookie Lenni Hameenaho leads the way offensively with 14 points while Seamus Casey gives them a good offensive threat from the back end. Former Rocket forward Nathan Legare has been quiet this season with just five points in 23 outings as well. They do have a solid goalie in Nico Daws although, with how poor the team has been in front of him, his numbers this season haven’t been great either.
Final Thought
While Luke Tuch isn’t known as a big offensive player – even in college – it would be fair to suggest that most would have felt that his rookie season with Laval was a bit of a disappointment offensively. While he wasn’t playing big minutes, six goals and eight assists in 44 games for someone with reasonable NHL aspirations isn’t great. But with his track record, there was cause for optimism that he’d rebound.
That hasn’t happened. Instead, he entered the week with six points in 30 games, though at least five were goals. As a result, he has largely remained in the limited role he had a year ago, in comparison to someone like Florian Xhekaj who has seen some top-six action. Even rookie Tyler Thorpe has been above him on the depth chart at times. The prospect shine seems to be fading.
While Tuch’s NHL ceiling was never particularly high, he felt like a very safe bet to make it in a fourth-line role. Someone who could play with an edge, kill penalties, win some board battles, and chip in a bit offensively. Most of those elements are still there but unless he finds a way to be more productive with the Rocket, it’s hard to see him getting a chance to showcase those other attributes with Montreal. He has a lot to prove in the second half.