After a bye in the first round of the playoffs, Laval faced off against Toronto in the second round. While the Rocket had the better regular season record, they weren’t the better team in this series, ultimately falling in the fifth and deciding game to put an end to their season.
The Series That Was
Apr. 29: Laval 3, Toronto 1 – The series got off to a solid start in a tight battle. Florian Xhekaj opened up the scoring while Joshua Roy doubled the lead in the third. Toronto got one back late but that was erased by a Samuel Blais empty-netter to give the Rocket the early advantage.
May 1: Toronto 6, Laval 2 – Briefly, things were looking up in this one as Laval actually scored the first two goals of the game. But penalty trouble cost them dearly in this game as the Marlies scored four power play goals on their ten power plays (plus a shorthanded empty-netter for good measure), allowing them to score six unanswered and win in a rout.
May 3: Toronto 6, Laval 2 – Penalties weren’t the issue this time, it was that Kaapo Kahkonen allowed four goals on the first 11 shots he faced, creating a deficit that was far too great to overcome before the first period had even ended. Laval got a bit better as the game went on, at least, but it was a case of too little, too late.
May 5: Laval 4, Toronto 0 – Facing elimination, Laval put forth their best effort of the series by far. Alex Belzile scored in the opening minute to set the tone for the veterans to carry the way. Blais scored twice while Laurent Dauphin added a shorthanded marker in the third while Kahkonen bounced back with an 18-save shutout.
May 9: Toronto 3, Laval 2 – Owen Beck carried the way offensively for the Rocket as he scored both goals and through 40 minutes, it looked like that might be enough. But Kahkonen struggled in the third, allowing a pair (and nearly one more had Sean Farrell not batted the puck away as it was set to cross the goal line) while the offence managed just three shots in the third, including only one in the back half when they were trailing. That simply wasn’t good enough and their season is over as a result.
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 2 | Marc Del Gaizo | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | Luke Mittelstadt | 5 | 0 | 2 | +4 | 7 | 6 |
| 4 | Tobie Bisson | 5 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 6 | Tyler Thorpe | 5 | 0 | 0 | E | 7 | 2 |
| 7 | Aiden Dubinsky | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 5 | 2 | 0 | -4 | 14 | 18 |
| 14 | Vinzenz Rohrer | 5 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 5 | 0 | 2 | E | 5 | 4 |
| 17 | Alex Tuch | 5 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 10 | 4 |
| 18 | Vincent Arseneau | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 10 |
| 19 | Samuel Blais | 5 | 3 | 2 | +4 | 15 | 20 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 5 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 14 | 2 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 5 | 2 | 5 | +2 | 12 | 6 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 5 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 6 | 8 |
| 44 | Josiah Didier | 5 | 0 | 0 | +4 | 2 | 0 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 5 | 2 |
| 56 | Adam Engstrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 5 | 3 | 2 | +2 | 9 | 4 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 5 | 1 | 1 | E | 7 | 34 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 4 | 0 | 0 | +3 | 7 | 0 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 5 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 6 | 12 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 32 | Hunter Shepard | 0-0-0 | 3.00 | .833 | 0 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 2-3-0 | 3.03 | .871 | 1 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Beck/Blais (3)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (5)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (7)
+/-: Blais/Didier/Mittelstadt (+4)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (34)
Shots: Samuel Blais (15)
News and Notes
– Injuries on the back end were a theme of this series. Already down Nathan Clurman, both Marc Del Gaizo and David Reinbacher were also sidelined by injuries in the two games in Toronto.
– Going back to last year, Florian Xhekaj now has 93 penalty minutes in 18 playoff games. Extrapolated over a 72-game season, that’s a pace of 372. For context, only three players surpassed the 200-PIM mark this season.
– After Jacob Fowler was recalled in March to give Kaapo Kahkonen the undisputed starting job, Kahkonen posted a 3.11 GAA along with a .872 SV% the rest of the way (regular season and the Toronto series). For someone brought in as a top-end starting netminder, that simply wasn’t good enough.
Last Game’s Lines:
Blais – Dauphin – Beck
Farrell – Belzile – Roy
Tuch – Condotta – Rohrer
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Thorpe
Engstrom – Didier
Paquette-Bisson – Mittelstadt
Trudeau – Dubinsky
Final Thought
For a team that won the division, Laval didn’t exactly feature an offence worthy of that distinction. They weren’t the highest-scoring team in the North, nor were they even in the top ten league-wide in that regard. And it’s not because they lost a bunch of their top players to recall from the Habs either with the Canadiens having enough depth to not need to raid the Rocket roster when injuries struck.
That lack of firepower was evident in the playoffs. In two must-win games, Pascal Vincent trotted out effective two energy or checking lines. That type of alignment would have made sense 15 years ago but not so much now. But it was more by necessity than anything else. Outside their top six, the roster just didn’t have much in the way of scoring. Filip Mesar had a quiet year, landing in the press box as a result. Jared Davidson was hot early on but his production cratered after being sent back down from the Habs, eventually forcing a scratch as well. Beyond those two, their only other forward options were checkers and grinders.
With that in mind, I’m hoping that John Sedgwick (Laval’s GM) makes an effort to bring a bit more firepower in next season. Not just in terms of top-six depth (which actually could undergo a fair bit of turnover due to free agency and waiver eligibility) but in terms of depth as well. It’s great to have some plug-and-play bottom-six options that you trust. But sometimes, you need some offensive-minded players among your depth pieces as well. They certainly could have used some extra firepower to get through this series and they’re going to need some to help get through next season if they want to remain a playoff contender.