Rocket Weekly: Finishing the Road Trip Strong

Laval’s long road trip came to an end this past week.  While they left points on the table in Calgary to start, they rebounded well to take a pair of key divisional matchups and gain a bit of ground as they look to hold onto first place in the division.

The Week That Was

Jan. 26: Calgary 6, Laval 3 – This was a tough night at the office for Jacob Fowler.  He allowed three goals in the first period and another early in the second (including two to Zayne Parekh who you might remember from Canada’s World Junior team).  To Laval’s credit, they pushed back and cut the deficit to one but a late power play marker before the end of the second proved to be too much for the Rocket to overcome.

Jan. 30: Laval 2, Syracuse 1 (OT) – In a battle of the goalies (including a bounce-back effort from Fowler), it was the defencemen who also took care of the offence for the Rocket.  Josh Jacobs returned to the lineup and scored his first of the season while in overtime, it was Adam Engstrom who was the hero to give Laval the crucial extra point.

Jan. 31: Laval 3, Toronto 2 (OT) – The Rocket led this game for the bulk of it.  Engstrom opened the scoring and a rare goal from Vincent Arseneau (in a rare game that he was dressed for) doubled the lead.  It’s one they held until just over a minute to go in regulation when Ryan Tverberg tied it up.  This time, it was Laurent Dauphin who was the overtime hero, scoring with 1:26 left in the extra frame.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	SOG	PIMS
2	Marc Del Gaizo	3	0	1	-1	5	2
5	Nathan Clurman	3	0	0	-3	7	2
6	Tyler Thorpe	3	0	0	-1	3	0
10	Joshua Roy	3	0	1	-3	5	0
15	Sean Farrell	3	1	0	-2	8	0
17	Alex Tuch	3	0	1	+1	4	0
18	Vincent Arseneau	1	1	0	+1	1	0
22	Alex Belzile	3	0	3	E	5	2
25	Ryan O’Rourke	1	0	1	-1	0	0
26	Will Dineen	1	0	0	E	1	2
27	Laurent Dauphin	3	1	4	-1	7	0
28	Josh Jacobs	2	1	0	+1	3	2
42	Lucas Condotta	3	0	0	-3	3	2
44	Josiah Didier	3	0	0	-1	3	0
48	Filip Mesar	3	0	0	E	3	2
49	Jared Davidson	3	1	0	+1	7	7
56	Adam Engstrom	3	3	1	E	13	0
62	Owen Beck	3	0	1	-1	4	0
63	Florian Xhekaj	3	0	0	-2	10	10
81	Xavier Simoneau	1	0	0	E	0	0
84	William Trudeau	3	0	1	E	5	7

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
1	Jacob Fowler	2-1-0	2.59	.892	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Alex Belzile (19)
Assists: Laurent Dauphin (36)
Points: Laurent Dauphin (49)
+/-: Laurent Dauphin (+22)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (92)
Shots: Laurent Dauphin (100)

News and Notes

– Kaapo Kahkonen didn’t play this week.  He dressed as the backup against Calgary but then was scratched for the other two games due to an upper-body injury.  He’s listed as day-to-day with Hunter Jones being called up to take his place.

– Jared Davidson suffered an upper-body injury against Toronto.  He’s still undergoing further medical testing but usually when that happens, it’s a longer-term absence.

– Lucas Condotta has only recorded a point in one of his last 15 games.  After putting up 31 points in 63 games last season, he has just 13 in 43 outings this season.

Last Game’s Lines:

Farrell – Dauphin – Belzile
Davidson – Beck – Mesar
Roy – Condotta – Thorpe
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Tuch

Engstrom – Didier
Trudeau – Clurman
Del Gaizo – Jacobs

The Week Ahead

Wednesday vs Utica – While the Comets have been a little better as of late with points in six of their last ten games, they still sit in last in the Eastern Conference and are 14 points behind Belleville to get out of last place in the North Division.  They recently lost their top scorer (Lenni Hameenaho) to New Jersey and with the Devils still in action, he probably won’t be sent back for this one.  Meanwhile, their top-scoring defenceman, Seamus Casey, is out with an injury and has been ruled out through the All-Star break.  This is a good time to be facing Utica, to say the least.

Friday/Saturday vs Cleveland – The Monsters enter the week in a three-way tie for second in Laval’s division, tied with Toronto and Syracuse.  They beat Laval in both of their head-to-heads earlier this season (Samuel Montembeault’s games), limiting the Rocket to just two goals.  Veteran Luca Del Bel Belluz paces the way offensively, averaging more than a point per game while Will Butcher, once a decent offensive producer from the back end in the NHL, is now a full-timer in the minors and is second on their blueline in points.

Final Thought

With it looking like the Habs are going to be buyers of some sort by the trade deadline (even if it’s just a light buyer given their cap limitations), this is a time when sellers are going to be paying close attention to the Rocket.  One player who I expect will be scouted closely is Joshua Roy.

At this point, Roy’s future with the Habs looks murky at best.  He’s waiver-eligible starting next season and barring multiple consolidation trades up front, he’s probably not in the mix for being considered for even an end-of-roster spot for next season, meaning he’ll be waiver-bound in the fall.  With that in mind, I suspect he’s someone that management will put in play, either as a return for a depth piece for Montreal or even in a swap of change-of-scenery prospects.

Unfortunately for the Canadiens (and the Rocket), Roy hasn’t exactly been scoring much lately.  Last month, he had just one goal and one assist in ten games.  For an offensive-minded player, that production isn’t going to cut it.  While it’s unfair to pin it just on him (several other young forwards are underachieving too), this lack of firepower is a big part of why Laval has scuffled lately in the offensive zone.

For Roy, this is a big chance to showcase himself.  Frankly, these next few weeks might be his last real chance to showcase himself as training camps become much more truncated next year and playing time for fringe players will be minimal.  But a good showing these next few weeks could be what gets him a chance in another organization which, at this point of his career, is probably what he needs.  Can he take advantage of the spotlight that’s coming his way?