Excerpt from 'Rocket Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj being loaned to the AHL's Laval Rocket. GAME RECAP | Belleville Senators vs Laval Rocket Laval Rocket vs Belleville Senators [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyNzMxMTM5OTg5Nzc1Mzcy/rocket-final-score.png] Laval Rocket vs Belleville Senators ROCKET LINEUP 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 GAME REPORT 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. Laval Rocket defenseman Arber Xhekaj [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAyNzMxMzE3MTU3MTc2Mzg4/xhekaj-53380986464_e9d7a4ea6e_k.jpg] Laval Rocket defenseman Arber Xhekaj 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. GAME STATISTICS 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 SCORING SUMMARY 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 Video highlights courtesy of the Laval Rocket [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4Qs6hKaOIE[/embed] POST-GAME INTERVIEWS Jean-Francois Houle Gabriel Bourque Tobie Paquette-Bisson Emil Heineman LOOKING BACK Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Suffer Seventh Straight Loss | RECAP: LAV @ ABB [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/montreal-canadiens/rocket/rocket-suffer-seventh-straight-loss-recap-lav-abb] UP NEXT 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 [https://thn.com/montreal] for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world. Gretzky Signature Series [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNzAzMjM2NzQxMTEzNjIw/gretzky-northland.jpg] Gretzky Signature Series