Rocket no match for Checkers in Game 1

Montreal Gazette

3 days ago

Laval Rocket
By
They say a team's never in trouble until it loses at home.
While there's still plenty of life remaining in the Laval Rocket, it has dug itself a potentially significant hole following its resounding 5-1 loss to the Charlotte Checkers Wednesday night at Place Bell in the opening game of the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference final before 9,230 spectators.
While the Rocket won't be facing elimination when the teams meet again Thursday night at the same venue (7 p.m., RDS), Laval can hardly afford to trail by two games knowing the next three will be played on the road when the series shifts to Charlotte on Sunday afternoon.
'You can't go down 2-0 going back to their rink for three,' forward Owen Beck said in the quiet Rocket dressing room. 'It's an odd format in that sense. We need to give ourselves some life, some momentum going into their barn for three straight games.
'If we're not on our game, our season can turn around pretty quickly,' added Beck, who won a Memorial Cup with Saginaw last season and was the tournament's most valuable player. 'At this stage of the year every team's top quality, top-notch. We built so much over this year ... with the regular season that we had. We've been generating momentum and trying to have our game at our best at this point of the year. There's so much that has gone into it, you don't want to throw it away with a few poor efforts.'
Sandis Vilmanis, Justin Sourdif, Oliver Okuliar, John Leonard and Jesse Puljujarvi, into an empty net, scored for the visitors — who reached this round by sweeping the two-time defending Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears in a best-of-five series.
While Charlotte was playing for the first time in a week, it hardly appeared rusty, scoring early goals in each period. The Checkers are on a five-game winning streak.
And while the Rocket should have been on an emotional high after dispatching Rochester in the fifth and deciding game last Sunday on home ice, the team appeared out of sync frequently.
Oliver Kapanen scored Laval's only goal, nearly six minutes into the second period, narrowing the deficit to 3-1. While the Rocket enjoyed a 31-20 shots advantage, it couldn't solve goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen frequently enough.
The 6-foot-2, 214 pounder played four full seasons in the NHL, between 2020-24, with Minnesota and San Jose, and has started each of the Checkers' nine playoff games, winning seven while recording one shutout.
Laval goalie Cayden Primeau, conversely, struggled after shutting out the Americans last Sunday. He was beaten twice on the first three shots he faced, then surrendered a second-period score on Charlotte's opening shot. That scenario was duplicated in the third period, Leonard scoring while the Checkers were short-handed.
Not only did Leonard score 36 regular-season goals, that was Charlotte's fourth short-handed playoff tally. The team has scored only twice with the man advantage in the post-season.
Laval went 0-for-6 on the power play.
The Rocket did have some opportunities. In the eighth minute of the second period, Rafael Harvey-Pinard was alone in front but couldn't bury his shot. Then in the third, Sean Farrell set up Joshua Roy, who failed to execute. Roy had another opportunity on the power play two minutes later, while Brandon Gignac was denied on a short-handed breakaway.
While the Rocket went 24-9-3 at home this season, finishing first overall in the AHL, it has struggled in the playoffs, going 3-3.
'It's focus. It's being prepared mentally to execute and knowing what's coming at you,' Laval head coach Pascal Vincent said. 'It can happen and does happen once in a while. We have to find a way to take that away from the other teams.'
These teams were meeting for the first time this season. Laval hasn't played Charlotte since the 2018-19 campaign. And the Checkers aren't like any AHL team the Rocket has faced. Eleven of 20 players have suited up for at least one NHL games, including six that have more than 50 games' experience.
Charlotte, the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, doesn't relinquish many scoring chances and, at least through one game, experience clearly has trumped youth.
'Their hockey sense as a team is really good,' Vincent said. 'They anticipate really well some plays. You think (a Laval player) is open. Then at the last minute he's not because they close quick. They box out and block a lot of shots, and they play a fast transition game. It's playoff hockey and there's a reason why they're in the top four as well. That's a good hockey team.
'We had some looks ... but it wasn't consistent. We had good moments and not-so-good moments. Our style of play is really aggressive, on top of people, no time to breathe. When we do it we're fine. We give ourselves a chance to win. Are we gonna win? I don't know, but we give ourselves a chance.'