The Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, Laval Rocket, will finally start the third round of the Calder Cup playoffs tonight when they take on the Rochester Americans. The Buffalo Sabres’ farm team finished second in the North Division, just behind the Rocket.
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While the Rocket dominated the Amerks in the regular season, winning six of the eight tilts between the two teams, Laval’s head coach Pascal Vincent quickly pointed out that their opponents didn’t always have a complete roster, which they will have in this series.
The coach’s name has been making the rounds in the NHL with so many coaching vacancies, but he has made it clear that his focus is entirely on taking the Rocket as far as it can go in the playoffs. There will be plenty of time afterwards to see if there’s a fit elsewhere for him.
The big question for tonight’s game is who will be in the net for the Rocket? Cayden Primeau had an outstanding season once he joined the Laval outfit in the AHL and guided them to the playoffs. Still, newly signed goaltender Jacob Fowler was on duty when the playoffs started since Primeau was backing up Jakub Dobes in Montreal.
Once the Habs were eliminated, he was assigned to Laval and given the net after Fowler had won the first two games. Primeau could not notch the third win to eliminate the Cleveland Monsters, and Fowler finished the job in game four.
With a formidable foe on the other side, will Vincent go back to his veteran or stick with the hot-hand prospect? There lies the question. Rochester will have the talented Dollar-des-Ormeaux native Devon Levi in the net. The youngster had a 25-13-4 record with seven shutouts, a 2.20 goals-against average, and a .919 save percentage in the regular season. In the playoffs, he has won his three games, posting two shutouts with a 0.67 GAA and a .978 SP.
To win, the Rocket will need contributions from everyone in the lineup, and the offensive production will have to be spread out. Laurent Dauphin and Alex Barre-Boulet are leading the way with six points each in four games, followed by Sean Farrell, but young players like Jared Davidson, Florian Xhekaj, and Owen Beck will have to step it up a notch. As for Joshua Roy, he needs to step it up several notches.
The series kicks off at 7 PM tonight in Rochester, where the first two games will be played. The remaining three possible games will be played in Laval. The Rockets made this decision as they would rather have the series-clinching games played at home.
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