Excerpt from 'Habs Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on the Montreal Canadiens' fourth line in their season-opening game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. GAME RECAP | Abbotsford Canucks vs Laval Rocket Abbotsford Canucks vs Laval Rocket [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNDc4NDk0MjU1ODUxMTI5/final-score---abbotsford.png] Abbotsford Canucks vs Laval Rocket ROCKET LINEUP Forward lines 19 Emil Heineman - 61 Philippe Maillet - 10 Joshua Roy 21 Riley Kidney - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 40 Joel Armia 15 Sean Farrell - 37 Brendan Gignac - 28 Lias Andersson 81 Xavier Simoneau - 42 Lucas Condotta - 20 Gabriel Bourque Defense pairings 29 Mattias Norlinder - 24 Logan Mailloux 84 William Trudeau - 7 Gustav Lindstrom 03 Jayden Struble - 4 Tobie Paquette-Bisson Goaltenders 75 Jakub Dobes 38 Strauss Mann Out of the lineup: Scratches: Nicolas Beaudin, Jan Mysak, Nathan Legare, Brady Keeper, Olivier Galipeau, Filip Mesar, Jared Davidson, Riley McKay, Zachary Emond Injuries: none GAME REPORT The Laval Rocket kicked off the 2023-24 regular season on Friday with a 7-4 loss against the Abbotsford Canucks in front of a sold out crowd at Place Bell. The second period decided the contest as Vancouver's AHL affiliate scored three times in under four minutes. Abbotsford capitalized on defensive errors to turn on the red light behind Jakub Dobes. The 22-year-old goalie was replaced after the Canucks' fifth goal. Dobes was let down from his teammates in his professional debut. Joel Armia's Rocket debut had a great beginning. He received a loud ovation from the crowd during the player introductions and made the fans roar by scoring Laval's first goal of the season. The 30-year-old scored with a wrist shot that trickled through Arturs Silovs. The Finland native added a second goal in the third period to cut the deficit to two goals. Joshua Roy continued where he left off from Sunday's preseason action with another strong showing. The 20-year-old recorded his first career AHL goal with a nifty deke around Danila Klimovich. Jean-Francois Houle has 17 forwards, nine defencemen and three goalies on the roster. With such a high number of individuals, the coach had to identify nine players to scratch. The reflection led to some of the younger players on the team like Jared Davidson, Jan Mysak and Filip Mesar watching the game from the stands. After the game, Houle confirmed that there will be changes for the next match. The organization will need to decide quickly whether sitting some of their younger prospects is the path going forward. If it's not, action needs to be taken to find ice time for them. GAME STATISTICS Rocket (0-1-0) Shots: 31 Power play: 1/5 Penalty minutes: 17 Canucks (1-0-0) Shots: 22 Power play: 1/4 Penalty minutes: 21 SCORING SUMMARY Rocket Scorers 1st period: Armia (1), Roy (1) 2nd period: no scoring 3rd period: Gignac (1), Armia (2)-PPG OT: n/a SO: n/a Canucks Scorers 1st period: Podkolzin (1), Aman (1) 2nd period: Rathbone (1), Karlsson (1), Podkolzin (2) 3rd period: Bains (1), Stevens (1)-SHG/ENG OT: n/a SO: n/a Goaltenders LAV: Dobes (L) 0-1-0, Mann BEL: Silovs (W) 1-0-0 ROCKET PLAYERS OF THE GAME * undefined * undefined * undefined VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqi6jm7dzoA[/embed] POST-GAME QUOTES Jean-Francois Houle Joshua Roy Logan Mailloux Sean Farrell LOOKING BACK Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Solid In Preseason Finale | RECAP: BEL @ LAV [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/rocket/rocket-solid-in-preseason-finale-recap-bel-lav] UP NEXT The Laval Rocket and Abbotsford Canucks wrap up their weekend series on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 3:00 pm ET on Saturday, October 14th at the Bell Centre. Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal [https://thn.com/montreal] for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world. A free issue of The Hockey News [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNTk3MTk4Mzc0MTE4Nzc2/hockeynewsad.jpg] A free issue of The Hockey News