The Canadiens power play has struggled for the entire season and has consistently been ranked at the bottom of the league. On Saturday, Kirby Dach ended his 10-game scoring drought with a power play goal in the second period.

St. Louis feels that a struggling power play affects the confidence of the top producers. He was happy with the unit’s performance against the Blues.

“The best power plays are those where the five guys on the ice are working with the same brain. They all know where they going and [Saturday] we looked like that. It takes only one guy to not know where the play is going and then you have no more play,” said the coach on Sunday. “It’s a game of chess, not checkers.”

The Laval Rocket ended their four-game homestand on Friday by hosting the Manitoba Moose. Laval was down 4-1 with 5:43 remaining in regulation when Jean-Francois Houle pulled Cayden Primeau for the extra attacker. The Rocket responded with three unanswered goals to force overtime. Manitoba did not let the win slip away and recorded the 5-4 victory 2:46 into the extra period.

“We’re happy we got the point. Obviously, when you have a nice comeback like that it would be nice to get that extra point. Every point is a point right now. I liked the character that this team showed to come back from 4-1,” Houle said.

Laval began a three-game road trip on Sunday in Toronto against the Marlies. Despite outshooting the Marlies 58-17 and receiving seven power play opportunities, the Rocket were defeated 4-2.

“It’s really disappointing. We faced a really hot goalie that made big saves. We have nothing to be ashamed of. I think we played a really good game, and limited their chances five-on-five,” Houle told BPM Sports.

“We had chances, we had shots, we had scrums around the net. I just think too many of those second chances that we couldn’t get up in the air enough,” added Corey Schueneman.

Laval’s road trip continues with games in Rochester on Wednesday and in Syracuse on Friday.

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Newfoundland to face the Growlers in a three-game weekend series. On Friday, the scored was locked at 3-3 early in the third period when Trois-Rivieres added two goals and head to 5-3 win.

“First, [goalie Philippe Desrosiers] was simply excellent in this game. Second, I found that we were really disciplined in our system. Newfoundland is explosive offensively and our 1-3-1 system slowed their players down. We did not allow them to deploy their offence as usual. I am proud of the team,” interim coach and general manager Marc-Andre Bergeron said.

On Saturday, Joe Vrbetic made his first start since Dec. 18th in the AHL. The goalie was pulled midway through the second when the Growlers had 4-0 lead with 14 shots on goal. Trois-Rivieres gave up four goals to Newfoundland’s power play in 7-3 loss.

“They have several players who have played together on the power play since the beginning. They are excellent. On our side, we had a plan, but we were not mentally in the right place to hold such a team in check. It cost us dearly. At five against five, we were able to match with them,” Bergeron said.

On Sunday, the Lions came out on the losing end of the match where they were awarded 10 power plays. Trois-Rivieres converted on two of them as Newfoundland won 6-3.

“The Growlers are patient, and on our end, we couldn’t find a way to stay good enough for long enough to stop them,” evaluated Bergeron.

The Lions head home to host the Orlando Solar Bears on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at Colisee Videotron.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)