Rocket Weekly: A Solid Start to December

After a rough week to end November, Laval got off to a much better start to kick off the month of December as they picked up five of a possible six points against division rivals although they lost a key player along the way.

The Week That Was

Dec. 4: Laval 3, Syracuse 2 (OT) – All of the scoring through regulation came on the power play with the two sides exchanging goals within a few minutes of each other each time.  That set the stage for Owen Beck to pot the winner just before the two-minute mark of the extra session, a sign of things to come for him as the week went on.

Dec. 6: Toronto 3, Laval 2 (SO) – Special teams made a difference in this game as well, albeit in a different way.  After Beck scored early in the second to tie the game, Alex Steeves potted a shorthanded goal less than three minutes later on a play that caused Jakub Dobes to leave with an injury.  Joshua Roy got that back later in the period which eventually forced overtime and after no one scored there, Cedric Pare scored the winner in the fourth round of the shootout.

Dec. 7: Laval 5, Toronto 4 – This time, it was Toronto who saw their starting goalie get injured as Matt Murray couldn’t get through the first period before having to be pulled.  This game featured a very eventful third period.  The Rocket scored four times in the final frame with a pair of goals sandwiching the other four tallies between the two teams.  Beck’s final goal came with just 20 seconds left off a won faceoff to get Laval the win and stop the Marlies from picking up a point.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Shootout – Skaters:

Shootout – Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Davidson/Roy (10)
Assists: Barre-Boulet/Beck (13)
Points: Owen Beck (20)
+/-: Jared Davidson (+10)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (39)
Shots: Joshua Roy (74)

News and Notes

– The injury that Jakub Dobes sustained was a lower-body one.  He’s listed as day-to-day.  Luke Cavallin was called up twice from Trois-Rivieres during the week, ultimately dressing as the backup against Syracuse and the second game versus Toronto.

– Luke Tuch returned to the lineup from his upper-body injury.  With the team getting a bit healthier, both Jakov Novak and Alex Beaucage were re-assigned to the Lions.

– The Habs made a small trade that affects Laval as winger Jacob Perreault to Edmonton in exchange for blueliner Noel Hoefenmayer.  Hoefenmayer reported to the team on Monday so he wasn’t available for the weekend games.

Last Game’s Lines

Barre-Boulet – Dauphin – Roy
Kidney – Beck – Davidson
Harvey-Pinard – Condotta – Simoneau
Arseneau – Xhekaj – Tuch

Trudeau – Mailloux
Engstrom – Jacobs
Wotherspoon – Lindstrom

The Week Ahead

Wednesday vs Rochester – Laval has had some early success against the Americans this season, picking up five of a possible six points in their three matchups so far.  Rochester is in the middle of the pack in the North Division despite a solid .587 points percentage.  They will get a boost for this one with Buffalo sending down Tyson Kozak on Tuesday although one of their more prominent young defenders, Ryan Johnson, is up with Buffalo.  Youngster Isak Rosen leads the way offensively with 17 points.

Saturday at Hartford – While the Wolf Pack have some strong veterans (on paper), it hasn’t translated to a lot of success in the early going with goaltender Louis Domingue putting up a 3.80 GAA with a .881 save percentage, numbers that are generally hard to outscore.  Former Rocket forward Alex Belzile is their leading scorer with 21 points through his first 19 outings.  Matt Rempe has spent the bulk of the year in Hartford with the hopes of playing him in a more prominent role but he has been limited to just three goals and an assist in 15 games so far.

Sunday at Bridgeport –  Keeping the puck out of the net has been a challenge for the Islanders as they’ve allowed the most goals in the AHL and the better of their two goalies, Marcus Hogberg, is currently up in the NHL at the moment.  They’re led offensively by another former Rocket forward, veteran Chris Terry who is tied for third in the league in assists.

Final Thought

Montreal’s first trade of the season was one for the Rocket with Jacob Perreault being sent to Edmonton for Noel Hoefenmayer.  When you consider that Hoefenmayer is an older defender and that Perreault was originally acquired for Jan Mysak (a player there were decent hopes for at one point), the trade tree on this isn’t exactly pretty.

But in terms of which player has a better chance of helping now, it’s Hoefenmayer.  Yes, the back end is relatively deep and relatively healthy but things can change on that front pretty quickly if someone in Laval gets hurt and someone in Montreal goes down (or gets traded if we’re talking later in the year).  Hoefenmayer is only a couple of years removed from being an above-average producer with the Marlies so he’s well-accustomed to North Division hockey and when he was in the lineup for Bakersfield this season, he made a bit of an impact.  He probably won’t play every game with Laval but he’ll be a useful player when he’s in there.

As for Perreault, he certainly wasn’t playing every game with Laval and when he was in the lineup, he was a depth piece at best, making virtually no impact.  Yes, there’s a first-round selection attached to him when Anaheim selected him late in the opening round in 2020 but the days of him being a top prospect are long gone.  At this point, he’s a fringe player who was almost certainly not going to be qualified by the Habs in June.  Rather than lose him for nothing after getting minimal use out of him during the season, he at least gets a fresh start and Laval gets someone who should make more of a difference.  As far as AHL swaps go, that’s not a bad one.