Rocket fall to 0-2 after another lopsided loss to Checkers
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It wasn't by accident that the Laval Rocket finished first overall in the American Hockey League this season. This is a relatively young team that faced numerous obstacles over a 72-game schedule.
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But the hole the Rocket has now dug itself might be too difficult to climb out of.
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For the second consecutive night and game Laval was overmatched, outclassed and dominated by Charlotte. The Checkers breezed to a 5-2 victory Thursday at Place Bell before 9,943 spectators, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
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The sky indeed appears to be falling on Chicken Little, although Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent has no alternative but to remain optimistic.
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'We're going to face it just the way we did the whole year — a day at a time,' Vincent said. 'We can't go in the playoffs thinking we have to win four games. We've got to win one. We've got win a period, then the next one and then the next one. That's how we're going to face it. That's what we've done the whole year.
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'This is a great opportunity for us, to show what we're made of, to see how we're going to react, how we're going to play in their building. Going there 0-2, it's not great. It's not what we wanted, but there's an opportunity there and we'll see how we're going to manage that.'
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The series now shifts to Charlotte for the next three games — provided the Rocket can make it that far — starting Sunday afternoon (4 p.m., RDS2, BPM Sports 91.9). The odds certainly don't appear in Laval's favour, the team faced with winning four of the next five and at least two at Bojangles Coliseum if it hopes to play another home game this season.
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Through two games, Laval has been outscored 10-3. Its power play has gone 1-for-12 while allowing two short-handed goals. Goaltender Cayden Primeau has struggled in both games and was replaced by Jacob Fowler 15 minutes into the second period after allowing four goals on 18 shots. That included two in a span of 44 seconds.
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The Rocket's defence, missing the injured Tyler Wotherspoon and William Trudeau, is in disarray.
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Logan Mailloux, a former first-round draft choice, attempted to beat two Charlotte players in the second period while Laval was on the power play. That resulted in a John Leonard breakaway and his second short-handed goal of the series.
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Mailloux, a minus-2 on this night, appeared to be benched in the third period, although Vincent claimed he was injured. Mailloux jumped on the ice with 4:13 remaining, during a television timeout, and was subsequently sent to the dressing room. Vincent said Mailloux was ejected by the officials, having been assessed a misconduct, although no such record appeared on the scoresheet.
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