Xhekaj Makes His AHL Debut | RECAP: BEL @ LAV

GAME RECAP | Belleville Senators vs Laval Rocket

Forward lines
81 Xavier Simoneau - 37 Brandon Gignac - 19 Emil Heineman
10 Joshua Roy - 61 Philippe Maillet - 17 Nathan Legare
21 Riley Kidney - 49 Jared Davidson - 20 Gabriel Bourque
14 Jan Mysak - 42 Lucas Condotta - 68 Riley McKay

Defense pairings
4 Tobie Paquette-Bisson - 24 Logan Mailloux
72 Arber Xhekaj - 25 Brady Keeper
84 William Trudeau - 44 Olivier Galipeau

Goaltenders
38 Strauss Mann
71 Jakub Dobes

Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Nolan Yaremko, Nicolas Beaudin

Injuries: Lias Andersson, Sean Farrell

The Laval Rocket's losing streak extended to eight games on Wednesday courtesy of a 5-2 loss against the Belleville Senators. 

Arber Xhekaj made his AHL debut after being assigned to the Rocket on Monday by the Canadiens. The defenceman had not played since November 16th due to an upper body injury that forced him to leave in the second period of the match against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

Belleville did not waste time and took a 2-0 lead on their two first shots against Strauss Mann. The Greenwich, Connecticut goalie did not look sharp on the first goal scored by Egor Sokolov from a bad angle. 

Laval struggled to generate any offence through 20 minutes with their first shot coming 4:59 into the contest. It was difficult for the home team to get any momentum as indiscipline led them on the penalty kill three times in the first period. 

The Senators added to their lead early into the second period during a delayed penalty on Xhekaj when a point shot hit and broke Joshua Roy's stick before beating Mann between the pads. 

Laval's deficit increased to four goals before the second intermission when another shot from the blue line between the goalie through the pads. 

In the third period, Jean-Francois Houle pulled all the stops with 10:33 remaining by pulling the goalie during a power play to give his team a six-on-four advantage and it led to Belleville adding a fifth goal. 

Laval did its first real push of the night with under five minutes remaining in regulation and it resulted to Riley McKay and Lucas Condotta breaking the shutout. 

The team's effort and pride was questioned by the players and the coach after the game. It took 55 minutes before it appeared that Laval was upset about losing. 

During this losing stretch, goaltending and the power play have been problematic. In the eight losses, the opposition has scored at least three goals in every game and at least four goals in five of them.  In the last seven matches, the power play has scored once in 23 opportunities. 

Rocket (5-12-3-1)
Shots: 30
Power play: 0-for-8
Penalty minutes: 21

Senators (9-8-1-2)
Shots: 28
Power play: 0-for-7
Penalty minutes: 33

Rocket Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: McKay (2), Condotta (3)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Senators Scorers
1st period: Egor Sokolov (5), Garrett Pilon (6)
2nd period: Tyler Kleven (1), Lassi Thomson (3)
3rd period: Garrett Pilon (7)-ENG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
LAV: Mann (L) 2-7-2-0
BEL: Mandolese (W) 2-2-1 

Video highlights courtesy of the Laval Rocket

Jean-Francois Houle

Gabriel Bourque

Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Emil Heineman

Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Suffer Seventh Straight Loss | RECAP: LAV @ ABB

The Rocket host the Hartford Wolf Pack for a doubleheader this weekend. 

Puck drop on Friday, December 8, is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET at Place Bell in Laval, QC.

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.