Game Thoughts: Opportunity Squandered
–
Laval had a chance to move on to the Eastern Conference Final if they could beat Rochester on Friday night. Instead, they had a night to forget all around as the Americans tied the series with a 5-1 win.
Laval had a chance to move on to the Eastern Conference Final if they could beat Rochester on Friday night. Instead, they had a night to forget all around as the Americans tied the series with a 5-1 win.
After splitting the first section of the North Division Final in Rochester, Laval returned home on Wednesday to kick off the home segment. It took a three-goal third-period breakout but the Rocket took care of business with a 4-1 victory.
After a very long break between rounds, Laval kicked off the North Division Final with their two road games in Rochester. In a pair of back-and-forth affairs, they were able to split them, putting themselves in a good spot with the rest of the series being played on home ice.
Following an eventful win in Wednesday’s series opener, Laval looked to make it two straight road wins to start the series on Friday. However, a late power play goal from the Americans was the difference-maker as Rochester picked up the 5-3 win.
After a lengthy break, Laval kicked off the North Division Final on Wednesday on the road in Rochester. Despite featuring two top goalies, this was a back-and-forth high-scoring affair but Oliver Kapanen’s first goal late in the third broke a 4-4 tie to give the Rocket the opening game.
After taking care of business in their first playoff series against Cleveland, Laval now turns its sights on coming out of the North Division as they get set for a best-of-five series against Rochester, Buffalo’s top affiliate.
After getting a bye in the first round, Laval didn’t show much rust as they put forth a solid performance to take their best-of-five series against Syracuse, setting up a battle of the top two teams in the Atlantic Division.
The 2025 World Hockey Championship is now complete. Despite being ousted quickly in the first round, the Habs didn’t have many regulars playing in this event and had just three representatives in total. As is tradition, we kept track of their stats here.
While Montreal’s first-round pick was locked in heading into Monday’s Draft Lottery, there was still some intrigue for the Canadiens as the outcome of the lottery would dictate which first-round pick they’d receive to complete the Sean Monahan trade.
After getting the win in the third game of the series last week, the Habs weren’t able to hold serve at home, paving the way for their season to come to an end in Washington in Game 5.