Rocket Weekly: Two Wins Over Utica
After sweeping a pair of games the previous week against Syracuse, Laval had another back-to-back against a division rival last week with Utica being the opponent. Once again, they took care of business with a pair of regulation wins.
The Week That Was
Oct. 25: Laval 4, Utica 3 – Hockey is a game of three periods but this was one that basically had two distinctive halves. In the first half, Laval took control and scored three times, looking to be in full control of the game. Then Utica got going, scoring three in the third period. Fortunately for the Rocket, Florian Xhekaj’s first professional goal was sandwiched between the Utica tallies with that marker standing up as the winner.
Oct. 26: Laval 4, Utica 3 – Not surprisingly, this one got off to a bit of a slower start but by the midway point of the first, both teams were more engaged. The Comets scored first but Luke Tuch got that one back less than three minutes later for his professional tally. The prospects continued to do the damage in this one with Joshua Roy and Jared Davidson also scoring for the Rocket while Connor Hughes got the win as Laval continues to rotate goalies.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 5 | Gustav Lindstrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | +3 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Chris Jandric | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 2 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Barre-Boulet | 2 | 0 | 4 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | Alex Beaucage | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 17 | Luke Tuch | 2 | 2 | 1 | +3 | 2 | 0 |
| 21 | Riley Kidney | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 4 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 1 | 1 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Josh Jacobs | 2 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 0 | 2 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 2 | 0 | 1 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 2 | 1 | 1 | +4 | 3 | 0 |
| 56 | Adam Engstrom | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 | 0 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 0 |
| 65 | Zack Hayes | 2 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 5 | 5 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 | 0 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 2 | 2 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Connor Hughes | 1-0-0 | 3.00 | .912 | 0 |
| 71 | Jakub Dobes | 1-0-0 | 3.00 | .900 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Joshua Roy (4)
Assists: Alex Barre-Boulet (6)
Points: Alex Barre-Boulet (8)
+/-: Gustav Lindstrom (+6)
PIMS: Simoneau/Tuch (7)
Shots: Joshua Roy (25)
News and Notes
– Laurent Dauphin and Filip Mesar were injured in Friday’s game while Brandon Gignac was sick and missed both games. Unfortunately, while Dauphin and Gignac are day-to-day, Mesar will miss eight to ten weeks with a lower-body injury.
– Winger Alex Beaucage was recalled from ECHL Trois-Rivieres to give them some more forward depth and with the players missing, he made his Laval debut on Saturday.
– Last week’s demotion of Jacob Perreault was reversed for the second time in less than a month so he is technically back on Montreal’s non-roster list at the moment. Injured players can’t be demoted and clearly, he still isn’t ready to return from his shoulder injury from last season.
– Goaltenders Luke Cavallin and Hunter Jones were both sent back to the Lions after skating with the Rocket for a couple of days.
Last Game’s Lines
Barre-Boulet – Condotta – Roy
Farrell – Beck – Simoneau
Davidson – Xhekaj – Beaucage
Kidney – Tuch
Engstrom – Trudeau
Wotherspoon – Lindstrom
Hayes – Jacobs
Jandric
The Week Ahead
Wednesday: vs Utica: Yes, it’s the rare home-and-home-and-home set between these two teams. The Comets have now lost six straight to start the season but have controlled sizable chunks of the play in both games last week. Seamus Casey made his AHL debut against Laval on Friday and made an impact, collecting four assists between the two games.
Friday/Saturday: vs Providence: It’s rare that the Rocket get to face a non-divisional opponent for the second and third time already this season when they haven’t played four teams in their own division once yet. The Bruins lost their home and season opener to Laval but have fared better since then and are in the middle of the pack in the Atlantic. Former Hab Tyler Pitlick recently signed with them while veteran blueliner Jordan Oesterle is leading the way offensively.
Final Thought
With the still-important caveat that we’re still very early in the season, I have to say that Sean Farrell’s slow start is somewhat concerning. In the early going, he has been held pointless through five games despite playing in the top six while being a healthy scratch the other time.
He’s about to turn 23 which is still very much within prospect territory but he’s one of the more experienced players on this team (which says a lot about how many prospects are on this roster). I’m not looking for him to come in and dominate but he’s not the type of player who fits very well in a non-scoring role so for him to make it to the NHL, the offensive game needs to come around.
This is a contract year for Farrell since he burned the first season coming out of college. Knowing how many prospects are still coming in the system, he needs to show that he’s still worth keeping around. With a new head coach in charge in Pascal Vincent, let’s just say this isn’t the start he was hoping for.