Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers visited the Bell Centre on Super Bowl Sunday. Joel Armia returned to the lineup for the first time since Jan. 17th after being sidelined with an upper body injury. 

Montreal had a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining in the second period when the home team added three unanswered goals to seal the victory. Jordan Harris ended a 34-game scoring drought by scoring a pair of goals and Christian Dvorak registered his 200th career point when he ended his 20-game scoring drought. McDavid finished the afternoon off the scoresheet and minus-3.

“We were in full control of the game and then we lost it with the penalties, but then we scored a big goal at the end of the second on the power play to give us that separation again. The way we started the third, it was very poise, calm and calculated and I’m proud of the guys for that,” St. Louis said.

Montreal played the second half of the contest with five defencemen as Arber Xhekaj got hurt during a fight against Vincent Desharnais. The organization did not confirm the nature of the injury but the defenceman pointed to his right shoulder as he skated to the dressing room.

The Laval Rocket were at Place Bell for a pair of games this weekend. On Friday, the Syracuse Crunch opened the scoring before Laval answered back with three consecutive goals and head to 3-1 victory. It was the Rocket’s ninth consecutive home win against the Crunch. 

“I thought Cayden Primeau was probably our best player and we need him to be like that at times. We had too many turnovers and gave the other team too many chances,” Jean-Francois Houle said.

On Saturday, the Utica Comets led 1-0 through 20 minutes before Laval took over with three consecutive goals in the second period. The Rocket won 6-2 and became the first team to score three shorthanded goals in a single game since Dec. 1st, 2019.

“We can win many ways. With the lead, without the lead and it’s part of the process of learning throughout the year and becoming a better team. We’ve had ups and down throughout the year, but if you learn from your mistakes like I believe our team has, it makes you a better team. That’s how you climb and get ready for the playoffs,” Houle said.

Saturday’s win was the 12th consecutive game without a regulation loss for the Rocket and the coach has an explanation for it. “Best building in the league. Best fans in the league. The way they cheer, how they come in big numbers, it’s so much fun to play here. Not just for us, for the visiting team too. I’ve been in the AHL for 10 years and there’s no place like this.”

The Rocket play the next five matches on the road beginning on Friday in Belleville.

The Trois-Rivieres Lions confirmed that Marc-Andre Bergeron will remain the coach of the team until the end of the season. Bergeron recently added some help by hiring Maxime Hamelin in the role of recruiting coordinator and assistant general manager.

The team faced the Maine Mariners in a home-and-home series on the weekend. On Friday, Trois-Rivieres was down one goal with six minutes remaining but failed to tie. Maine added an empty net goal to win 4-2.

“We had a lot of possession time in the offensive zone with long sequences where we put a lot of pressure. However, that didn’t translate into goals. We often had the rhythm in the game, but the Mariners found a way to score when we had the rhythm,” Bergeron said.

On Saturday, the Mariners blanked the Lions 4-0 at Colisee Videotron. Bergeron felt that his team deserved a better result. “It’s not a 4-0 game. We had several golden chances, but their goalie was excellent. That’s pretty much the story of the game. We had good chances on the power play. We had a few defensive breakdowns but could it have been 4-4? Probably yes.”

The Lions head back to Maine to face the Mariners on Friday.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)