AHL Game 48: Manitoba Moose @ Laval Rocket
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: RDS (French)
Streaming: FloHockey, RDS
While the Montreal Canadiens remain off for the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the AHL affiliate is in the midst of its busiest week of the season, playing a third game in four days with another two to play this weekend. The Laval Rocket currently occupy the top spot in the league, though it’s a tight battle for that place.
Laval launched itself into that position with seven consecutive wins from January 22 to February 8, but has now lost two of its last three. The Rocket have a bit of a cushion built up on the teams occupying the final playoff spots in the North Division, but they don’t want to see an extended slide like the NHL team did before the NHL season was paused.
The Manitoba Moose will be a welcome visitor to Place Bell. Laval swept last year’s four-game season series, and have 15 regulation wins in the past 20 meetings with the Winnipeg Jets’ farm team. They offer a chance for Laval to get back in the groove in a series played tonight and Friday evening.
This could be one of the final games Owen Beck ever plays in a Rocket jersey. He was one of the best Habs players in the games leading up to the 4 Nations, and if he isn’t due for an immediate recall when the NHL schedule resumes this weekend, we will likely be up the moment the Canadiens trade a forward away ahead of the NHL trade deadline.
The game will also be a chance to see David Reinbacher in action as the fifth-overall selection from the 2023 NHL Draft is recovered from the knee injury sustained in the NHL pre-season and set to make his season debut. He has experience with Laval, playing 11 games at the end of last season a collecting five points in that time. He will probably take some time to work his way into game shape, but it’s great that he will get some experience from this season.
Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux, and Alex Barré-Boulet, Sean Farrell, and Florian Xhekaj have all stepped up their play in recent games even if the results aren’t there in the past week for the team. Wins have been much more common than losses for Laval this year, and the home crowd will be expecting a bounce-back performance from their team.
Laval Rocket projected lineup
