Despite a thrilling comeback victory on Friday night, the Laval Rocket experienced another tough week of significant losses. Can five days of practice turn things around?
It's not been a very fun start to the season for the Laval Rocket. The Montreal Canadiens' AHL affiliate came back to Quebec last week following a dismal two-game road stint, and their outlook didn't improve much.
Laval Rocket forward Lucas CondottaGranted, they did put on quite a show for their fans on Friday night with a big comeback win over the Toronto Marlies, but the two other games played at Place Bell last week didn't have such happy endings.
A 4-1 loss to the Utica Comets, and a second consecutive Saturday night shutout (this one thanks to the Marlies) have left the Rocket flailing with a 2-7-1 record on the season. That meager five points in the standings has them sitting at the bottom of the league.
So what's been the issue? Well, the defense, for one. Collectively, the rearguards have been burned time and time again by turnovers that end up in the back of Laval's net. Speaking of the net, it was encouraging to see rookie goaltending prospect Jakub Dobes get all three starts for Laval last week. He had some terrific saves, particularly on Friday night, but also made some mistakes that he'll surely learn from.
Joshua Roy, after storming to the top of the league's scoring charts, has suddenly fallen off in the past two weeks. After earning a top honor by the AHL in the month of October, Roy hasn't had a point in his last four games played and is a minus-4 in the same time span.
As always, however, we do try to pinpoint some bright spots, and the prospects have provided some positive moments. Logan Mailloux, Jayden Struble, and Jan Mysak all made good contributions to the team in last week's three games.
You watched an excerpt of my latest episode of Rocket Hockey Report at the top of this article, and if you want to hear the REST of my Laval Rocket weekly report analysis, simply click the following link to watch this week's episode on YouTube: The Laval Rocket Won A Game! But Then THIS Happened...
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
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