The third-round series pitting the Montreal Canadiens’ farm team, the Laval Rocket, and the Buffalo Sabres' farm team, the Rochester Americans, resumes tonight with the third game. Each team won one game in Rochester and entered tonight’s match-up, with the best-of-five series tied 1-1.
Laval won game one 5-4 with Cayden Primeau in the net and lost game two 5-3 with Jacob Fowler in the net. Neither were particularly sharp, with the former posting a .852 save percentage and the latter a .886, and Pascal Vincent is expected to continue rotating his netminders. At the same time, Rochester will keep riding Devon Levi.
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In order to win, the Rocket will need to find a way to neutralise Kale Clague, who’s currently third in the league in points. The defenseman was a second-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in 2016 and spent 25 games in the Canadiens’ organization during the 2021-22 season. Jiri Kulich will also need to be closely watched. The rookie spent most of the season in the NHL, scoring 24 points in 62 games, and stands out against AHL competition. In five playoff games, he has seven points.
Offensively, the Rocket will need veterans Laurent Dauphin and Alex Barre-Boulet to continue their strong play. They both have eight points through six games. In Friday’s defeat, Laval could only muster 19 shots on goal, with the duo accounting for six of them. Defensemen Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher had three each.
Generating more shots will be essential if the Rocket wants to beat Levi, who sports a .931 SP and has been very stingy in the playoffs with a 2.01 goals-against average. As for Primeau, who should be on duty for Laval, he has a .865 SP and a 3.62 GAA in just two outings. Fowler has the better numbers with a 1.75 GAA and a .929, but Vincent said before the start of the series that he intended to rotate his netminders.
Logan Mailloux, who has looked very good in the postseason, will need to keep up his strong play. The blueliner is fifth in the league for points by a defenseman with five in six games, but he’s also been efficient defensively.
The puck is set to drop at 7:00 PM in Laval (you can watch on RDS), and game four is set for Friday, May 22, at 7:00 PM in Laval. If a fifth game is necessary, it will also be played at the Rocket’s arena on Sunday, May 25.
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