The Laval Rocket entered Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final in a spot they never wanted to be in, facing elimination in the form of a four-game sweep against the Charlotte Checkers. There were obvious injuries hampering the AHL’s top regular-season team, but they still had at least 60 minutes of hockey left to try and pull off something incredible.
The lineup changed just slightly for Pascal Vincent. Filip Mesar drew in on the fourth line with Xavier Simoneau forced out of the lineup. Jared Davidson got a bump into Simoneau’s spot on the third line, while Mesar lined up with Luke Tuch and Florian Xhekaj. On defence, Vincent reunited Adam Engström and David Reinbacher as his top pairing, while Logan Mailloux and Zack Hayes took the second-pairing duties. In net, the Rocket turned to Jacob Fowler, giving Cayden Primeau the backup spot after three straight games of being shelled offensively.
After pushing hard early in every single game before this one, the Rocket took a more deliberate pace out of the box and were tightening up all the areas where they were getting beaten before. Pucks were cleared quickly from the defensive zone, even if it meant just dumping it off the glass. Chances weren’t many, and Kaapo Kähkönen continued to be a stubborn opponent as he denied Lucas Condotta on a good in a scramble in front of the Checkers’ net.
As was often the case, that strong start was brought to a temporary stop as Florian Xhekaj’s steal into a breakaway was called back for a hooking penalty, putting the Rocket on the first penalty kill of the game. Laval’s penalty-killers were up to the task, with Alex Barré-Boulet creating his own short-handed breakaway and another chance for his teammates on one shift to escape without surrendering a goal.
Laval’s balanced, and composed attack finally paid off. For the first time all series, the Rocket found themselves in the lead. Barré-Boulet continued to be a nuisance as he won back a loose puck, feeding it to Gustav Lindström back at the point. Lindström let a long-range wrist shot go, and Joshua Roy deflected it by Kähkönen to open up the scoring.
Because nothing in this series could go easily, the Rocket found themselves back on the penalty kill as Jared Davidson was dubiously called for slashing as the period came to a close. While Laval escaped the first period with the lead, they had 1:41 of penalty time to still kill off in the second frame.
Laval’s penalty-killers were again in top form, dominating the Checkers’ power play and keeping their lead intact . After Engström was hauled down without a call, the Rocket offence decided to just not give the puck back to Charlotte for multiple shifts in a row. Noel Hoefenmayer used his frame to shield the puck while waiting for a line change, and as space opened up he found his target. Owen Beck was wide open at the back post, and Hoefenmayer put it right on his stick for Beck to sweep into the net.
Laval’s two-goal lead did not last long as just one mistake allowed Charlotte to claw their way back into the contest against the flow of play. A loose puck made it beyond a pinching defender, leaving David Reinbacher hustling to try to split up an odd-man break. Reinbacher left too much space and Justin Sourdif took advantage as he blistered a shot by Fowler to cut the lead in half.
Charlotte then took out Lindström on an ensuing shift. As Lindström circled his own net to dish off the puck, Riley Bezeau came in from the blindside and drilled the Rocket defenceman square in the head. For his efforts, Bezeau was given a major penalty and game misconduct and put Laval on a five-minute power play.
Laval’s man advantage continued to do more harm than good in the series as the Checkers gave them nothing to work with in terms of shooting lanes. With the pressure on, Logan Mailloux wildly slapped at a puck to try and keep it alive, but put Sean Farrell in no man’s land along the boards with multiple Checkers closing in on him. With a helping hand due to some uncalled interference, MacKenzie Entwistle broke in short-handed and beat Jacob Fowler to tie the game up.
Charlotte kept slowly tilting the momentum in their favour as the second period wound down, and with Lindström done for the night the Rocket defence was beginning to show its weariness. Fowler looked locked in as the period came to an end, withstanding a long period of sustained pressure but managing to keep things level.
The game was tied up 2-2, but the Rocket still had plenty of work to do to even entertain the possibility of a Game 5.
Both teams were relatively tentative to start the third period, with the Rocket lacking the earlier punch on their breakouts, and Charlotte just lying in wait for any Laval mistakes. They didn’t have long to wait as Oliver Kapanen got his stick down near Trevor Carrick’s skates to send Charlotte to its third power play of the night. For all the power-play struggles the Rocket had in this series, their penalty kill again came up big to deny the Checkers a go-ahead goal while Kapanen sat in the box.
Laval continued to try to regain their lead late, but as was the case all series, one mistake turned the game instantly in favour of Charlotte. A puck was cleared out of the offensive zone, but Hayes wasn’t going to win the footrace back to it in time. He dove, trying to sweep the puck away at the same time Fowler left his net to play the puck away. Neither got much of the puck, and Jesse Puljujarvi threw it into the wide-open net to put Charlotte back in the lead with 2:04 left to play.
There was no miracle comeback, as the immaturity and panic of the Rocket ended up putting one final nail in the coffin while Charlotte coasted through the final moments to claim the Eastern Conference title.
Final Score: Charlotte 3, Laval 2
CLT wins series 4-0
A relatively short off-season awaits the Rocket as they look to refresh their lineup with some veterans likely to depart and some prospects bound for the NHL level. We will find out of any of the players end up on the Canadiens’ roster in the fall.
