Reinforcements for Laval | Habs Notepad

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Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by TVA Sports)

Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, Jesse Ylonen, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Corey Schueneman, Cayden Primeau, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by TVA Sports)

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Montreal Canadiens were at Scotiabank arena on Saturday to face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto took advantage of Montreal’s indiscipline to score two power play goals in the first period and outshoot the Canadiens 18-1.

Johnathan Kovacevic cut the lead to one goal early in the second period before the Maple Leafs responded with the next goals to easily win 7-1.

Martin St. Louis was visibly frustrated following the team’s showing on the ice. “We weren’t there tonight,” repeated several times during his post game media conference that lasted under one minute. “We needed better intentions.”

“It’s definitely frustrating especially when for these games we got excited. It’s Saturday night in Toronto, it’s a big rival and to go there and leave [Sam Montembeault] out to dry and play the game we did, it’s frustrating,” Joel Edmundson said. “They just came with a lot of pace, which we we expected, but we just didn’t respond well.”

During their respective broadcasts, TVA Sports and Sportsnet reported that Hockey Canada approached St. Louis for an unidentified coaching position with Team Canada in the World Championships that will take place from May 12th to 28th. The coach declined the offer as he would like to spend more time with his family.

Rocket Holding On

The Laval Rocket hit the ice for a pair of matches on the weekend against North Division rivals. On Friday, Laval had a two-goal lead through 40 minutes before allowing three goals in the final period to give the Cleveland Monsters the 5-4 victory.  

“We were at a really good spot when you’re going into the third with the two goal lead. We talked about it that we got to stay discipline,” coach Jean-Francois Houle said. Two of Cleveland’s goals in the third period were scored with the man advantage.

“We got to find a way to be better on special teams. That’s where the game was played. I thought our faceoff on special teams were deficient both on the power play and the penalty kill. It’s tough to get going when you don’t have the puck.”

The Rocket were in Syracuse on Saturday to face the Crunch. Syracuse opened the scoring 1:14 into the game, but Laval bounced back with the next four goals to take a commanding lead. The Crunch put up a fight in the third, but the Rocket held on to win 5-3.

“A big win. It wasn’t easy to stay motivated from out start but the guys started believing after we scored a couple of consecutive goals. Every game has been important for us in the last two months and we won’t stop working until the end,” Houle told BPM Sports.

Laval’s win in combination with Cleveland’s loss on Saturday allows the Rocket to hang on to the final playoff spot in the North division. The Canadiens AHL affiliate has a one-point lead over the Monsters with Cleveland having one-game in hand over Laval.

Laval concludes the regular season with a three-game homestand beginning on Monday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Reinforcements For Laval

On Sunday, the Canadiens assigned Jesse Ylonen, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Corey Schueneman and Cayden Primeau to the Rocket. All four players will be available for Monday’s contest. The organization is doing everything they can to help their AHL affiliate clinch a playoff spot.

In 37 NHL games, Ylonen collected 16 points while averaging 13:27 of ice time. The 23-year-old was slotted throughout the lineup and regularly played on the power play.

Harvey-Pinard scored 14 goals and 20 points in 34 games with Montreal. The 24-year-old averages 17:14 of ice time, leads the team at plus-7 and the coach paired him primarily with Nick Suzuki on the top line, power play and penalty kill units.

Schueneman has been playing a lot of hockey. He just finished a stretch of playing three games in three days in three different arenas. Monday will be his fourth match in six days. The 27-year old defenceman has key responsibilities with Laval and has served as a role model for young defenders such as William Trudeau and Jayden Struble.

Primeau was a key contributor in Laval’s recent road trip that brought the Rocket back in to the playoff race. In the first game back at Place Bell, the goalie allowed five goals on 38 shots.

“He was just okay. I found him late on several shots and we need him to be better than that,” Houle said following the goalie’s last start.

Lions Swept in Newfoundland

The Trois-Rivieres Lions were in Newfoundland for a tripleheader against the Growlers. On Friday, the game was tied through 40 minutes when the Growlers scored twice in the first half of the third period and head to 5-3 victory. Ryan Francis scored all three goals for the Lions to record his first career hat trick as a professional.

On Saturday, the Growlers had a 3-0 lead through two periods before the Lions got on the board early in the third period. Newfoundland added an empty net goal and proceeded to win 4-1. Joe Vrbetic made 27 saves in his first start since returning from his leave for family reasons.

On Sunday, Newfoundland had a 6-0 lead through two periods before Trois-Rivieres got on the board with two goals in the third period. The Growlers added three more goals to complete the weekend sweep with the 9-2 victory.

The Lions will be in Maine on Wednesday to face the Mariners and will conclude their season on Friday by hosting the Adirondack Thunder.

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
Habs Hockey Report
Copyright © 2023 Rocket Sports

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