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Chris G

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Guy Lafleur, Brendan Gallagher, Cole Caufield, Carey Price, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Montreal Canadiens vs Boston Bruins (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Tributes in the memory of Guy Lafleur poured from around the hockey world since he passed away on Friday. The Hall of Famer lost his battle with lung cancer at the age of 70.

On Friday, a short tribute took place at Place Bell prior to the Rocket game. The crowd observed 10 seconds of silence, and the helmets of Laval’s players had a number 10 patch for the game.

On Sunday, the Canadiens held an emotional pre-game ceremony prior to puck drop against the Bruins. The crowd chanted ‘Guy, Guy, Guy’ and gave an ovation that lasted 10:10. Several of Lafleur’s teammates sat behind Montreal’s bench to honour Lafleur’s legacy, and the players wore a number 10 patch on their jerseys.

The organization announced additional events leading up to the funeral. Lafleur will lie in state at the Bell Centre for the general public on Sunday, May 1, and Monday, May 2. A national funeral will be held on Tuesday, May 3 at Mary Queen of the World Cathedral. Fans can leave condolences on the All Habs fan page on Facebook.

Rivalry Intensifies

The Canadiens were at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday to face the Ottawa Senators. Ottawa had 2-1 lead early in the second period, when they scored three even strength goals in 1:07. Montreal was not able to recover from that sequence and ended up losing 6-4. “We played very good 58 minutes. Those two minutes hurt us,” Martin St. Louis evaluated the night.

The match featured 40 penalty minutes in the first period, due to the fallout from the last contest. After the previous tilt between the two teams, Brendan Gallagher accused Tim Stutzle of diving. Gallagher’s words set up animosity for Saturday’s game.

Cole Caufield tallied his 20th goal of the season during the second period. The forward became the first Canadiens player to reach that mark in his rookie season since Chris Higgins in 2005-06. After scoring only once in 30 games, Caufield added 19 goals in the following 34 games.

“It was a goal of mine, obviously after the tough start too. To get to this number, it feels pretty good, and it’s a good thing to build on for next year as well,” Caufield said.

In goal, Carey Price allowed six goals for a second consecutive start. “I believe in Carey. It was a long absence. It’s hard to get back in shape and be the goalie that you can be. It takes time to be at the top of your game,” St. Louis said about Price’s performance.

Prior to Sunday’s game, Cayden Primeau was recalled from the Rocket. St. Louis said that Price played a lot of games, his status is day-to-day and he will be given a break until the season finale on Friday against the Florida Panthers.

Not Enough to Win

Despite the highly emotional pre-game tribute to Lafleur, the Canadiens came out flat to start the game on Sunday. The Bruins held a controlling 4-1 lead after 40 minutes, before Mike Hoffman and Nick Suzuki scored to cut the lead to one goal. Patrice Bergeron sealed Boston’s 5-3 win with an empty net goal in the final minute.

“It’s a game you really want to win. There’s nothing that prepares you for situations like this. The guys knew about how special tonight’s game was. They gave everything they had, and we didn’t get the results we wanted. It wasn’t a game that you needed to motivate the guys a lot. It was up to them to know the challenge in front of us, and the impact that it can have on a special evening,” St. Louis said postgame.

Sunday’s loss was the team’s ninth consecutive in regulation, tying a team record that was set in 1939-40.

The Canadiens wrap up the season with a visit to the Rangers in New York on Wednesday, and by hosting the Florida Panthers on Friday.

Rocket Clinch Playoff Spot

The Laval Rocket had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a regulation win on Friday against the Toronto Marlies. Laval had a 1-0 lead through 20 minutes before allowing five unanswered goals in the final two periods to allow Toronto to win 5-1. A disappointing performance by the home team in front of a sold out Place Bell.

“I really thought that our inability to score the second goal in the first period where we had plenty of chances. We had some open nets on the power play, some back door tap ins, and we didn’t score. That really hurt us. We’re a team that when we have quality chances, we have to find a way to get it in because we’re not overly skilled like Toronto is,” Jean-Francois Houle said.

Laval had a second opportunity to clinch with a regulation win in Syracuse on Saturday. Similar to the previous night, the Rocket allowed five unanswered goals to lose 5-1 against the Crunch.

“We were beat on loose pucks, they played physical, and they won the battles on the board. For me, it has nothing else to do besides effort,” Houle explained the loss to 91.9 Sports.

Laval is currently on a three-game losing streak, scoring three total goals during that span. “There’s too many passengers right now, and some of them will need to stand out and find a way to produce or at least play well defensively,” Houle said.

Laval clinched a playoff spot for the first time in team history on Sunday when the Cleveland Monsters defeated the Rochester Americans 2-0. The Rocket will look to solidify a good playoff seed this week when hosting the Marlies on Wednesday and Thursday, and then in Syracuse on Saturday to close out the regular season.

Lions Off to Bad Start

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Newfoundland for the opening games of their first round playoff series against the Growlers. On Friday, the Lions had a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes, but the Growlers bounced back with six goals in the final two periods to win 7-4.

“We could have won this game. There were errors on the second and third goals. We offered too many power plays to the Growlers, we came back in the game, but we allowed a goal. We can beat this team. Yes, we gave up six goals, but there were several good things,” Eric Belanger said after the game.

On Saturday, Trois-Rivieres opened the scoring, before allowing five unanswered goals as Newfoundland headed to 6-2 win. “I liked our start to the game. We scored the first goal, but they scored quickly. I felt us on our heels afterwards. We got bad penalties. This is a team that will make you pay. They are opportunists and they took advantage of our mistakes,” Belanger said.

The Lions played the second game of the series without forward Alexis D’Aoust, and defenceman Olivier Galipeau. Both players left Friday’s game due to injury, and have and key roles on the team. No timeline for their return.

The series moves to the Colisee Videotron for the next three games starting on Tuesday. Trois-Rivieres will need to make adjustments to bounce back from the 2-0 series deficit.

“It was quite difficult in the defensive zone. We often remained trapped in our zone. We will have to be better in our breakouts, our coverage, our decision-making. It’s 2-0 in favour of the Growlers. It’s not where we want to be, but I’ve experienced it in my career. We can’t start being negative,” Belanger said.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
All Habs Hockey Magazine
Copyright © 2022 Rocket Sports

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