Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Options Author
Get the cut up on the highway and go house.
That’s a typical want for a staff opening a playoff sequence on the highway.
It may be much more helpful in a best-of-five playoff sequence during which the remaining video games will all be performed on house ice.
When the Laval Rocket, the AHL’s regular-season champion, pulled out of Rochester and hit the freeway for the journey again house final Friday night time, it was the final of the Blue Cross Area that they might be seeing for this season. They usually had their cut up, heading again to Place Bell tied at one recreation apiece.
However the first two video games have been very a lot a battle. After scratching out a 5-4 comeback win in Recreation 1 final Wednesday, the Rocket have been overcome by a relentless Amerks staff, outshot 36-19 in Recreation 2. The groups mixed for 17 objectives within the first two contests, however the one time both staff had a lead of a couple of aim was the ultimate 9 seconds of Recreation 2 when Isak Rosén’s empty-net aim capped Rochester’s 5-3 win.
Rosén has three objectives within the first two video games. Jiří Kulich, down for the Calder Cup Playoffs from the Buffalo Sabres, scored the profitable tally in Recreation 2 and in addition has three assists within the sequence. Rochester’s pace and relentless puck-tracking has precipitated issues for loads of groups this season, and it is going to be one thing that the Rocket need to comprise.
“At the moment of the yr, you want canines,” Amerks head coach Michael Leone said following Recreation 2. “You actually need canines. You want players.”
Though the Rocket have been in a position to rating eight objectives in two video games towards Devon Levi, Rochester’s standout goaltender, a number of of them got here off defensive-zone breakdowns. If Rochester can clear up these errors – one thing that they did higher in Recreation 2 – the Rocket may have extra problem making an attempt to resolve one of many AHL’s prime goaltenders as this sequence progresses as nicely. And the Amerks are not any pushovers on the highway, both; they went 23-9-2-2, tying for second-best within the league.
Nonetheless, the Rocket have lots going for them as they put together for Wednesday’s Recreation 3. They’ll be again house at Place Bell, the place they have been 24-9-2-1 throughout the common season. It’s usually a loud, rambunctious, disruptive surroundings for opponents, and that chaos solely intensifies within the postseason, one thing that guests discovered fairly nicely throughout Laval’s run to Recreation 7 of the Japanese Convention Finals three years in the past.
Pascal Vincent, the Louis A.R. Pieri Memorial Award winner because the AHL’s most excellent coach this season, has needed to steadiness a big query in web. Go along with veteran Cayden Primeau, who backstopped the Rocket to 21 wins in his 26 regular-season appearances? Or flip to rookie Jacob Fowler, a 2023 third-round pick of Boston Faculty who turned professional in April and has shortly adjusted to the AHL.
Or why not each? Vincent went with Primeau in Recreation 1, then opted for Fowler in Recreation 2. Each goaltenders gave the Rocket an opportunity to win a recreation. Primeau acquired the victory within the opener, and Fowler offered 31 saves towards a harmful Amerks offense. Whereas Laval may typically overwhelm groups this season, Rochester definitely is feeling assured going into this week.
“I’m actually pleased with the fellows,” stated Leone, who had acknowledged how vital it was to take Recreation 2 earlier than happening the highway. “Now it’s a best-of-three, no matter the place we play… We play with quite a lot of poise and composure. We’ve performed that staff a bunch, and we’ve performed actually good hockey. I do know folks have a look at the file and stuff, however we consider in ourselves big-time.”
All indicators level to this persevering with to be a back-and-forth sequence between these two evenly matched groups. Laval held a 4-3 lead into the third interval’s midpoint in Recreation 1, withstood a Rochester tying aim, after which put away the win on Oliver Kapanen’s aim with 4:38 to go. However in Recreation 2, the Rocket noticed their 3-2 second-period lead dissolve with three unanswered Rochester objectives.
Each groups have a full-on battle on their palms. The Amerks have their “canines.” So do the Rocket. And Wednesday is Laval’s probability to push again.
“They’re a very good hockey staff,” Rocket captain Lucas Condotta stated after Recreation 2. “We all know they’re going to carry it.”
On the American Hockey League beat for 20 years, TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams additionally at present covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a daily contributor on SiriusXM NHL Community Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.
