Rocket Lineup

Yannick Veilleux – Laurent Dauphin – Alex Belzile

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jordan Weal – Brendan Gallagher

Jake Lucchini – Lukas Vejdemo – Jesse Ylonen

Brandon Baddock – Cameron Hillis – Jan Mysak

Xavier Ouellet – Corey Schueneman

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Cale Fleury

Gustav Olofsson – Otto Leskinen

Carey Price – Cayden Primeau

Nathanael Halbert, Jacob LeGuerrier, Liam Hawel, Arsen Khisamutdinov, Tristan Pomerleau, Cayden Primeau, Terrance Amorosa, Michael McNiven, Vasily Demchenko

Ryan Poehling (undisclosed), Joel Teasdale (surgery), Joseph Blandisi (surgery), Michael Pezzetta (surgery), Josh Brook (lower body)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

There was a lot of excitement surrounding the Rocket’s final game of the 2021 season at the Bell Centre, as they hosted the Marlies for the last time of the five-game set. Toronto has won the last three matches by an identical 3-2 score. 

On Sunday, the Canadiens assigned goaltender Carey Price and forward Brendan Gallagher to Laval on a conditional stint following their lengthy absence due to injury. Price was scheduled to be in goal for the first half of the contest, while Gallagher started the match on a line with Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Jordan Weal. Josh Brook was out of the lineup, after suffering an injury on Saturday.

First Period

It was a bad start for Laval to this game. Alex Belzile was serving a tripping penalty received in the first minute when Bobby McMann made it 1-0 with a top corner glove side shot. The goal was scored on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play that began with Joseph Duszak and Justin Brazeau.

Toronto doubled the lead 1:46 later when Tobie Paquette-Bisson turned the puck over behind his own net, which led to Jeremy McKenna setting up Stefan Noesen for the goal. 

Laval dominated the balance of the period after being outshot 5-0 through 4:52. Laurent Dauphin led the charge by obtaining several scoring chances, and drawing two penalties.

Second Period

The Rocket’s start in the middle frame was quite different than the first. Laval put the first eight shots in the period on the board before the visiting team took its first at the 7:16 mark. Michael Hutchinson made several key saves to preserve the lead. 

Brandon Baddock and Belzile took consecutive penalties that allowed the Marlies to obtain momentum. 

Price remained in goal for the entire period, even though he was scheduled to play only half the game. During the television timeouts, the veteran goalie skated to the bench and let Cayden Primeau know that he’ll play until intermission.

Third Period

The ice remained tilted in Laval’s favour for the final 20 minutes. The Rocket played a tight defensive game that prevented the Marlies to generate any offence. Primeau made two saves in relief to Price.  

Laval pulled their goalie for the extra attacker for the last 4:09 of the period and only managed to take one shot on goal. 

The Rocket wasn’t able to capitalize on their four power play chances of the night, which brought their total to 2-for-28 (7.1%) in the last 11 games. 

The 2-0 loss was the second time this year that Laval was shut out by their opponent.

What’s Next?

Price finished the night making 13 saves. The goalie didn’t have a chance on the first goal, and the turnover gave Noesen a quality opportunity for the second goal. Price looked more comfortable as the game progressed. 

Gallagher took two shots on goal, finished with minus-1, and was called a double-minor for high sticking. The Canadiens forward took a lot of short shifts, spent a lot of time in front of Hutchinson’s net, and looked ready for post season. 

The Rocket finish the season on top of the Canadian Division with 23-9-3-1 record. The team will hold its end of season meetings on Tuesday.

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Gallagher, Belzile, Harvey-Pinard, and Bouchard by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲   Laurent Dauphin, Corey Schueneman, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jordan Weal

▼   Alex Belzile, Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Brandon Baddock