Rocket Weekly: Two Straight Wins Over Abbotsford

After a tough stretch against Syracuse to end 2024, Laval started off 2025 on a good note with a pair of victories over Abbotsford while Cayden Primeau’s season debut with the Rocket was a strong one.

The Week That Was

Jan. 3: Laval 2, Abbotsford 1 (OT) – After an eventful first period in terms of chances, things settled down in the second so naturally, that’s when the goals went in.  Xavier Simoneau opened up the scoring midway through the second but the lead was short-lived as Aatu Raty tied it up four minutes later.  That was it until overtime and just past the one-minute mark, Laurent Dauphin potted the winner to get Laval the extra point.

Jan. 4: Laval 6, Abbotsford 2 – This one wasn’t as close as Nikita Tolopilo struggled in goal in the second half of the back-to-back for the Canucks.  The prospects helped lead the way for the Rocket in this one with Sean Farrell, Filip Mesar, and Joshua Roy all hitting the scoresheet with goals while Rafael Harvey-Pinard’s tally in the second period held up as the winner.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Joshua Roy (13)
Assists: Barre-Boulet/Beck (15)
Points: Joshua Roy (25)
+/-: Beck/Engstrom (+10)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (74)
Shots: Joshua Roy (103)

News and Notes

– While it was initially hoped that the recurrence of Brandon Gignac’s knee injury wouldn’t keep him out for long, that isn’t exactly the case as he’s now listed as week-to-week.

– Florian Xhekaj is dealing with a lower-body injury and was listed as day-to-day for last week’s games.

– Josh Jacobs suffered a lower-body in the second game versus Abbotsford, one that looked fairly serious at first glance.  He’s undergoing testing to determine the severity.

– While Owen Beck is among Laval’s scoring leaders, he’s in a bit of a cold stretch right now.  Over his last nine games, he has just two assists.

Last Game’s Lines

Roy – Beck – Barre-Boulet
Harvey-Pinard – Dauphin – Mesar
Farrell – Condotta – Simoneau
Arseneau – Davidson – Tuch

Trudeau – Jacobs
Hoefenmayer – Mailloux
Wotherspoon – Lindstrom

The Week Ahead

Friday/Saturday: at Cleveland – While the Monsters are a division rival, this is the only time they’ll play in Cleveland this season with the Monsters playing a pair in Laval in March.  They’re squarely in a battle with Rochester and Laval for the top spot in the North and are paced offensively by second-year forward Luca Del Bel Belluz, a 2023 second-round pick.  Veterans Trey Fix-Wolansky and Rocco Grimaldi give them plenty of (undersized) skill while Jet Greaves is having a strong year in goal, earning himself some starts with Columbus as well.  Laval will likely catch a bit of a break as Cleveland’s top-scoring blueliner, rookie Denton Mateychuk, is currently up with the Blue Jackets.

Final Thought

One of the surprise decisions from the coaching staff came on Saturday when they decided to make Adam Engstrom a healthy scratch.  The night before, he had assisted on the overtime winner so to see him out of the lineup was something many probably weren’t expecting.

But the decision wasn’t without its merits.  After a strong start, Engstrom’s play had taken a step back as of late and even with him seeing time on the top power play, he hasn’t been contributing as much on that end as he was earlier on while defensively, he had a few extra slipups.  For someone whose game action is usually between 50 and 60 in a season, even giving him a night off here and there from a load management perspective makes some sense although right after a long break generally isn’t the best time for that.

Despite the recent setback, it has been a pretty good season for Engstrom overall.  He’s doing pretty well in a top-four role and quickly earned special teams minutes as well.  All things considered, his stock is trending up so hopefully the unplanned night off is just a small blip in the road.