HabsWorld.net --
It wasn’t a great week for the Rocket in terms of how they played their three games. However, they were able to pull off a pair of third-period comebacks to put together a fairly successful week overall.
The Week That Was
Jan. 15: Laval 4, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3 (OT) – Halfway through the third period, Laval was down 3-0 and couldn’t find a way to beat Jaxon Castor, an ECHL backup goalie pressed into action when their starter was injured. However, they kept pressing and were rewarded for their efforts as William Trudeau, Florian Xhekaj, and Gustav Lindstrom all scored within a five-minute stretch to force overtime. There, just after the Rocket failed to score on a four-minute power play, Jared Davidson potted home the winner from in close to get the win.
Jan. 17: Laval 3, Utica 2 – The penalty kill wasn’t doing the Rocket any favours in this one as the Comets scored on their only two power plays with Ryan Schmelzer notching a pair to give the Comets the 2-0 lead halfway through the game. However, Laval came back once again. Xhekaj tied it up midway through the third, setting the stage for Owen Beck to snipe the winner with five minutes left in regulation.
Jan. 18: Utica 3, Laval 1 – Once again, Laval trailed early as Schmelzer scored just 66 seconds in and former Rocket winger Nathan Legare doubled the lead a little before the midway mark of the second. This time, Laval couldn’t muster up much of a comeback with their only goal coming with 15 seconds left just after a two-man advantage expired.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 2 | Noel Hoefenmayer | 3 | 0 | 2 | E | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | Gustav Lindstrom | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | Joshua Roy | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 13 | 0 |
| 11 | Rafael Harvey-Pinard | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | Alex Barre-Boulet | 3 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 9 | 0 |
| 15 | Sean Farrell | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | Luke Tuch | 3 | 0 | 2 | +4 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 | Riley Kidney | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | Tyler Wotherspoon | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Logan Mailloux | 3 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 7 | 4 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 6 | 2 |
| 42 | Lucas Condotta | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 | 5 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 6 | 2 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 1 | 1 | +4 | 8 | 0 |
| 56 | Adam Engstrom | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 2 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 3 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 5 | 0 |
| 63 | Florian Xhekaj | 3 | 2 | 0 | +3 | 3 | 4 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 4 | 0 |
| 84 | William Trudeau | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 6 | 2 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 30 | Cayden Primeau | 2-0-0 | 2.46 | .909 | 0 |
| 31 | Connor Hughes | 0-1-0 | 3.11 | .897 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Davidson/Roy (14)
Assists: Alex Barre-Boulet (19)
Points: Barre-Boulet/Roy (27)
+/-: Jared Davidson (+16)
PIMS: Florian Xhekaj (80)
Shots: Joshua Roy (126)
News and Notes
– Defenceman Josh Jacobs underwent knee surgery on Thursday that will keep him out for the remainder of the season. His campaign ends with five points in 26 games.
– Joshua Roy was injured in the first game against Utica while William Trudeau was injured in the second game. Roy will miss four to six weeks with an upper-body injury and will now miss the All-Star Game. Trudeau, meanwhile, will miss one to two weeks with a lower-body injury.
– With just 10 points in his first 22 games, Rafael Harvey-Pinard is at the lowest point-per-game pace of his four AHL seasons.
Last Game’s Lines
Simoneau – Dauphin – Barre-Boulet
Farrell – Condotta – Harvey-Pinard
Davidson – Beck – Mesar
Kidney – Xhekaj – Tuch
Trudeau – Mailloux
Hoefenmayer – Engstrom
Wotherspoon – Lindstrom
The Week Ahead
Wednesday vs Hershey – It’s the second and final matchup of the season against the conference-leading Bears with Hershey winning the first one in November. They just got starting goalie Hunter Shepard back after he was brought up when Charlie Lindgren was injured a week and a half ago versus the Habs. Former Rocket winger Pierrick Dube is tied for fourth in team scoring while top prospect Ivan Miroschnichenko was also recently sent down, bolstering Hershey’s depth in the process.
Friday at Hartford – While the Wolf Pack aren’t in the same division as Laval, the Rocket will face them three times in an eight-day stretch beginning with this game. Former Hab and Rocket Alex Belzile is their top scorer, averaging just over a point per game as his strong play at that level continues (though NHL chances have been hard to come by). Dylan Garand has been sharp between the pipes but has largely platooned with veteran Louis Domingue who isn’t having a particularly good season thus far with a save percentage that’s 29 points lower.
Sunday at Providence – After a tough start to the season, the Bruins have worked their way up to second in the Atlantic Division in recent weeks. Their forward group lost a key player the other day, however, with Matthew Poitras recently getting recalled to Boston while their leading scorer, Vinni Lettieri, is also up with the big club. Laval has won the first three matchups of the season and this is the final one between the two sides.
Final Thought
When the Habs recalled Owen Beck on Sunday, I thought it was a bit of a strange selection. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that he wasn’t deserving of it by any stretch. He certainly was. But when the opening to fill is on the left wing, taking a right-shot centre who has only played down the middle this year, the fit doesn’t necessarily seem so seamless.
I get that there’s value in having an extra centre and someone who can kill penalties (although Beck hasn’t done a ton of that this year). A bit of versatility certainly doesn’t hurt and Beck, to his credit, hasn’t looked out of place just yet.
But there’s a part of me that wonders if Jared Davidson might have made a bit more sense for what’s likely to be a fairly short-term evaluation with Emil Heineman due back in two or three more weeks. While he’s smaller than Heineman, he plays with enough aggression to make him more of a fit on that trio while also being a left-hand shot. On top of that, he can also play centre in a pinch. I know Davidson’s skating is an issue but this would have been a way to see how much of a potential problem it would be or if his overall game is strong enough that he can still play in spite of it.
With Joshua Roy out, Beck is the next most prominent prospect and considering there are many who feel he should be a regular with the Habs next season, they need to get him some NHL game action. I get it. And again, it’s not as if he was a bad choice. But for the role that was available, I think Davidson might have been the better fit.
