Game Thoughts: Rocket’s Thrusters Come Up Short in Second Period Collapse

The Laval Rocket dropped Game 2 of their best-of-seven Conference Finals against the Charlotte Checkers 5-1 on Thursday, and it wasn’t pretty. 

Pascal Vincent made no changes to the lineup after Wednesday’s 5-1 disappointment. Despite going a collective -10 in Game 1, the first line stuck together. Cayden Primeau got the start after allowing four goals on 19 shots in Wednesday’s loss. Though the lines started the same, Pascal Vincent threw them in a blender in the back half of the game but they started like this:

Gignac – Dauphin – Barre–Boulet
Farrell – Kapanen – Roy
Harvey–Pinard – Condotta – Simoneau
Davidson – Xhekaj – Beck

Engstrom – Lindstrom
Hoefenmayer – Mailloux
Hayes – Reinbacher

Primeau

Game Thoughts

1) It was a fast and frantic start for the Rocket; they came out and set the physical tone immediately. It was immediately clear, though, that  Vincent had instructed his team not to get drawn into altercations to avoid penalization (it didn’t work). Florian Xhekaj got two chances early on, both stopped by Kahkonen, but it was clear that Laval had adjusted from Game 1. I was interested to see the first line had stayed together, as they combined for a -10 rating in Wednesday’s affair. Laval’s forecheck was lacking in Game 1, and it was immediately evident that there was going to be a focus on forechecking.   

2) The pace of play was red-hot for the first 12 minutes of play, with both teams flying around and laying the body. It quickly became clear that Charlotte was unaccustomed to its opponent responding to its physical play, and the Checkers quickly lost their tempers. Charlotte got its first power play with eight minutes left in the first after Adam Engstrom was the third man in an altercation between Xavier Simoneau and Mike Benning. Laval killed the penalty well, Cayden Primeau was good when he had to be, and Charlotte didn’t have a shot in the final minute of the man advantage. Unfortunately, Joshua Roy would take a double minor just seconds after getting back to even strength. Laval killed the first three-and-a-half minutes before Charlotte scored, a weak wrister from the point from Trevor Carrick that beat Primeau cleanly through the screen, leaving Laval trailing 1-0 with two minutes left in the period.  

3) The Rocket were on their heels for the rest of the period as the physical battle continued to and passed the final whistle. The energy Laval had come out with had obviously been sapped, and they needed to clean things up in the second period. Laval as a whole was sloppy, but there was a purpose in their sloppiness that could be refined in the next two periods. In no way were they outplayed, but spending six minutes on the penalty kill is an easy way to lose a period. 

4) After allowing a quick goal in all three periods of Game 1, Laval needed a good start to the second frame but didn’t get it. Charlotte had spent the first period toeing the line of legality author facing punishment, but Mikulas Hovorka would be called for a cross-check. What should have been an opportunity turned into a disaster as John Leonard scored shorthanded to put Charlotte up 2-0 just over five minutes into the game. The Rocket’s power play would end without Laval mustering a shot. 

5) Laval looked lethargic after the goal and would take a penalty of their own, a bench minor for too many skaters. Once again, the Rocket would kill it off, but shots were 15-8, and Laval had only managed a single shot in the first 10 minutes of the second. Not the good start they wanted. 

6) By the midway point of the period, Laval looked lost. All the energy had been sapped, and they were just going through the motions. It seemed everyone was a second behind, and Charlotte took its foot off the pedal a little physically, sensing weakness in its opponent. The Rocket got their best chance of the period with seven minutes left. Xavier Simoneau, alone in front, was robbed by Kaapo Kahkonen’s right pad. Just a minute later, though, Charlotte would make it 3-0 on a Michael shot from the goal line. Just 40 seconds after that, Primeau missed an easy wrister from Will Lockwood on his glove side, making it 4-0 and effectively bringing the game out of reach for the Rocket. 

7) The fourth goal would end Primeau’s night. He has now allowed eight goals on 37 shots over the last three periods, and the last few were soft. Down 4-0, Laurent Dauphin would suffer an illegal hit in front of the Rocket bench, leaving him on the ice for an extended period of time. Laval would receive a power play, but Florian Xhekaj was given a 10-minute misconduct for… some reason, I assume. The Laval power play would give up another shorthanded chance on the power play and returned to even strength with nothing to show. Charlotte would get another chance on the power play at the end of the period; Laval escaped it, only trailing 4-0. 

8) Laval showed some life early in the third and received a power play three minutes in. The man advantage failed to generate anything of danger. After play middled around for a few minutes, Laval would get a break thanks to a good defensive play from David Reinbacher. Reinbacher sprung Oliver Kapanen into the neutral zone, who left it for Noel Hoefenmayer, whose point shot was deflected in front to make it 4-1. The goal bolstered the Rocket, who followed it with two good offensive chances before the 10-minute mark.  

9) After the goal, Laval went back to the power play; this time, it was Engstrom quarterbacking the first unit, and to great success. By this time, the referees had struggled to police the game appropriately, and if not for both teams having dialled it down for the last 20 minutes, the emotion would have already come to a dramatic head. Luckily, neither team was willing to risk limb in a decided contest. Charlotte would score again, a soft floater from the high slot from Riley Bazeau that beat Fowler cleanly. At this point, the Rocket were just staring at the clock, waiting to go home. Laval and Charlotte would chip it out until the final whistle, with both teams taking a handful of penalties. Reinbacher scored on a blistering shot to make it 5-2 on the power play, but the goal was meaningless down three with less than a minute left. By the time the final whistle went, seven players had been given misconducts. 

10) Final thought: Laval came ready to play but faltered early. I think the entire first line might be playing hurt, and it showed. Sean Farrell was taken off the Oliver Kapanen line in favour of Barre-Boulet, and I still don’t think it’s the right choice. I like the duo of Kapanen-Roy, but I think they need a heavy forechecking presence alongside them. I wonder if Luke Tuch will make an appearance in the next game. Cayden Primeau started solid but lost confidence early and fell apart shortly after. Fowler was less than steady, being thrown into a decided game. 

Laval will have a chance to turn the series around in Charlotte on Sunday, June 1. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 PM ET. 

HW Rocket Three Stars

1st Star: Xavier Simoneau – #81 is my first star tonight, purely because of effort. He gave 110 per cent on every shift and was an impact player at both ends of the ice. He’s a pest, and he takes a beating for his boys. 

Stats: 14 PIM, 1 shot, +0 rating 

2nd Star: David Reinbacher – Wasn’t always pretty, but was a solid presence for the most part while being inserted into every situation imaginable. I could have easily put Adam Engstrom or Owen Beck here, but I felt statistically inclined to include Reinbacher.   

Stats: 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, -1 rating

3rd Star: Oliver Kapanen – He was solid all night. He’s such a smart player who has just the right amount of grit. I couldn’t exclude him simply because I thought he was the only player who didn’t really have a misstep. 

Stats: 1 assist, -1 rating