It wasn’t a great final week of the regular season for Laval who went to Toronto for a pair of games and lost them both. However, with Syracuse only winning one of their games, the Rocket finished the season atop the North Division, giving them home ice advantage for two rounds if they advance that far.
The Week That Was
Apr. 18: Toronto 4, Laval 3 – There are some games lately where the Rocket simply haven’t had it. This wasn’t one of those. They were simply dominant but Dennis Hildeby was sharp for the Marlies while Kaapo Kahkonen had a rough night. The Rocket outshot Toronto 38-14 but found themselves down 4-0 late. However, they scored three times in the final five minutes to make it interesting but the comeback ultimately came up just short.
Apr. 19: Toronto 4, Laval 2 – With several regulars getting the night off, Vinzenz Rohrer got a prime opportunity for his AHL debut and made the most of it, picking up a goal and an assist, both shorthanded, while showing some chemistry with Owen Beck (who also had a shorthanded goal and helper). However, those were the only times Artur Akhtyamov was beaten while the Marlies took the lead early in the second and never looked back. Even with the two wins, though, they will have to play in the opening round since Cleveland won their games as well to hold onto the third seed in the division.
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 2 | Marc Del Gaizo | 2 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | Luke Mittelstadt | 1 | 0 | 1 | E | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | Tobie Bisson | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Tyler Thorpe | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Aiden Dubinsky | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 3 | 2 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 1 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Darick Louis-Jean | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 14 | Vinzenz Rohrer | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 2 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | Alex Tuch | 2 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 8 | 2 |
| 18 | Vincent Arseneau | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 4 |
| 19 | Samuel Blais | 1 | 1 | 1 | E | 3 | 2 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 1 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 3 | 0 |
| 26 | Will Dineen | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 28 | Josh Jacobs | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 5 |
| 44 | Josiah Didier | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 0 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 5 | 0 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 2 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 7 | 0 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 1 | 16 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 6 |
| 83 | Josh Nadeau | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 3 | 0 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 0 |
| 91 | Dillan Bentley | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 32 | Hunter Shepard | 0-1-0 | 3.08 | .900 | 0 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 0-0-1 | 4.08 | .714 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Alex Belzile (29)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (44)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (62)
+/-: Marc Del Gaizo (+23)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (182)
Shots: Joshua Roy (187)
News and Notes
– Defenceman Nathan Clurman is dealing with a lower-body injury. Last week, it was noted that he needed further evaluation which is usually code for he’s going to miss some time.
– Lucas Condotta received a one-game suspension for getting into his tenth fight of the season. Fortunately, he fought in the first game of the weekend, meaning he was able to serve his suspension in the final game.
– Laval used a total of 41 players during the regular season, a number that was increased a lot at the end with several rookies getting looks over the final few weeks. Even so, this total ties the 2020-21 season for the fewest players used in franchise history.
– With ECHL Trois-Rivieres missing the playoffs, Laval brought up several players to serve as ‘Black Aces’. Those are forwards Joe Dunlap, Mark Estapa, Egor Goriunov, and Israel Mianscum, defenceman Charles Martin, and goalies Hunter Jones and Ben Gaudreau.
Last Game’s Lines:
Farrell – Beck – Rohrer
Tuch – Xhekaj – Thorpe
Davidson – Dineen – Mesar
Arseneau – Bentley – Nadeau
Pauqette-Bisson – Dubinsky
Trudeau – Del Gaizo
Louis-Jean – Didier
The Week Ahead
With Laval being the top seed, their first playoff opponent is not yet known. Toronto is playing Rochester in a best-of-three series with the winner advancing to play the Rocket. The team shared scheduling scenarios for each possible opponent.
If the Marlies prevail, the Rocket will begin the best-of-five series on April 29th at home, playing two in Laval, two in Toronto, and the final game in Laval, the latter two only if necessary. However, if the Americans move on, they will host the opening two games of the series next week on undetermined dates while Laval would host the final three (should the series go the distance); those home games would begin on May 6th.
We’ll have more on the series once the opponent is known but for now, we’ll note that Laval went 6-2 against Rochester while they lost five of eight to the Marlies, posting a 3-3-2 record.
Final Thought
For a big chunk of the season, goaltending was a strong spot for Laval. Jacob Fowler had a solid rookie season and with a high-paid above-average backup in Kaapo Kahkonen, there weren’t many off nights. That allowed the Rocket to overcome some offensive struggles and played a big role in getting them to the top of the division.
Things haven’t been so pretty lately. Fowler was recalled to the Habs back on March 11th. Kahkonen has made 10 starts since then, allowing at least three goals in six of those. In his last four starts, he has a save percentage no better than .870; the other three start with a seven. Unfortunately, he’s in the middle of his worst stretch of the season. And while Hunter Shepard isn’t a bad backup option, his limited usage since being acquired suggests that he doesn’t have the trust of the coaching staff to be used much in the postseason.
While Kahkonen was overworked after Fowler’s recall, that’s not the case now. He’s played in all of four games this month (and got yanked in one of them). A little more than one game per week is far from taxing.
Here’s hoping that this extended break allows him to get back to basics and get back on track. With his pedigree, he has the ability to steal some games in the playoffs; that’s why the Habs are paying him a seven-figure salary to be in Laval. With Fowler out of the picture, it’s soon going to be time for him to reward the organization’s faith in him. Otherwise, it could be a short playoff run.