2024-02-03 04:24:12
If the Montreal Canadiens wish to draw from their school club to fill out their NHL roster, two players in particular left their business cards on Friday evening.
Brandon Gignac and Justin Barron both collected three points in a convincing 6-2 victory for the Laval Rocket against the Rochester Americans at Place Bell.
About ten hours after the Habs traded center Sean Monahan to the Winnipeg Jets, Gignac had three assists to join Alex Belzile and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard as the only players in Rocket history (19-17-6) to have reached the plateau of 100 points with the team.
With only an American Hockey League contract in his pocket, Gignac is currently having the best season of his career, with 41 points in 42 games. For the moment, he seems to have done enough to sign an agreement to help the Canadian in the Bettman circuit, but the ball is not in his court.
“I work hard every night so I keep telling myself that if it has to happen, I’m going to be ready,” he said. I play with confidence and it’s easy to do well when you also have the confidence of the coach. »
His head coach, Jean-François Houle, raised a good point.
“Like I told him before, there are 31 other NHL teams that can come get him. He must continue like this. It opens the eyes of several teams and we are very proud of him. He played very well tonight and he uses his skating very well,” observed Houle.
Barron, who was demoted to the American Hockey League about two weeks ago, had performed “okay” in his first four games with the Rocket.
Friday night, the 22-year-old defenseman collected a goal and two assists and he led the first power play unit well. He made some mistakes defensively, but he is working on this aspect of the game, as the Canadian asked him when he demoted him.
“I think I can still be better defensively, but it was good to get back on the scoresheet tonight,” Barron said. I feel more comfortable defensively and my reads are better. I try to play more physical too. I focus on that. »
Houle had a few weeks to work with Arber Xhekaj on his zone play and the towering defenseman played confidently in the American League before being called up to the NHL. The challenge is similar for Barron, but it was also important that he darken the scoresheet a little.
“He needs to continue to improve his defensive game, but it’s good for him to get some points too. He went on the attack and made some nice passes. It’s a good match for him offensively and he will continue to work defensively,” analyzed Houle.
Lias Andersson found the back of the net twice while Joshua Roy, Mitchell Stephens and Philippe Maillet added a goal each for the Rocket, who had lost their last three outings.
Even though his teammates had a great team performance in front of him, Jakub Dobes made two very important saves at 2-1 in the first period, at the expense of Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen. The Rocket sailed on this momentum and never looked back.
“We knew they were going to push after we took the lead. My job is to keep the momentum on our side and make sure I give my team a chance to win. It was a key moment,” noted Dobes, who finished the match with 24 saves.
Lukas Rousek and Jeremy Davies responded for the Americans (20-16-4), who suffered a second loss in a row. Dustin Tokarski gave up five times in 32 pitches.
The two teams will battle it out again at Laval’s home on Saturday afternoon.
On the wheel hats
Fans who arrived late missed some of the best moments of the first period, three goals in 3:34 and two great saves.
First, in the 27th second, Barron intercepted a pass at the blue line and quickly passed the disc to Gignac. The Rocket forward then slipped the puck to Andersson, who easily completed the tic-tac-toe.
The Americans took less than two minutes before bringing both teams back to square one. Rousek easily got around Barron and surprised Dobes with a backhand shot into the top corner.
Jean-François Houle’s squad recovered only 1:43 later. Gignac entered the enemy zone quickly and left the puck behind for Barron. The latter fired a wrist shot that hit the post to Tokarski’s left before entering the net.
The Rocket immediately experienced a moment of flutter. Rosen served Mattias Norlinder a cup of coffee, but he ran into Dobes. The Czech goalie also stood out by taking out the glove against Kulich, during a numerical superiority.
Dobes’ teammates rewarded him when Stephens pounced on Norlinder’s rebound to make it 3-1.
The local favorites hurt the Americans at the end of the second period. During a power play, Roy accepted a pass from Maillet and deceived Tokarski’s vigilance on the near side.
The Rocket distanced itself even further in the 34th second of the third period. From his zone, William Trudeau joined Maillet at the other blue line and the veteran hit the target with a wrist shot over Tokarski’s glove.
The Rochester team saved face midway through the period, through Davies, but Andersson sealed the outcome in an empty net.
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