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Rocket forwards have just two goals so far in series against Checkers
Jonathan Di Gregorio
Rocket forwards have just two goals so far in series against Checkers
Credit: Things aren’t going well for the Laval Rocket. Following today’s 5-1 loss, the team is trailing 3-0 in its series against the Charlotte Checkers. Final score Final score pic.twitter.com/g5R6TADX46 – xyz – Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) June 1, 2025 In three games, the Rocket allowed fifteen goals and scored only four for a minus-11 differential. […]

Things aren’t going well for the Laval Rocket.

Following today’s 5-1 loss, the team is trailing 3-0 in its series against the Charlotte Checkers.

In three games, the Rocket allowed fifteen goals and scored only four for a minus-11 differential.

The Lavallois have been unrecognizable since the start of the series and, as we say in good Québécois, they’ve really been varloped by the Checkers….

In fact, Pascal Vincent had to withdraw his starting goaltender, Cayden Primeau, for a second consecutive game.

And yes, we’re talking about the best regular-season team in the AHL.

However, if the defense and goaltending aren’t getting the job done (remember that the Rocket finished first in the AHL with 185 goals allowed), the offense is also in disarray.

In three games, Laval has scored just four goals. Of those four goals, only two were scored by forwards.

The two scorers were Oliver Kapanen in the first game and Jared Davidson in the third.

The other two goals, scored in the second match, came from defensemen Noel Hoefenmayer and David Reinbacher.

Let’s just say that 1.3 goals per game doesn’t leave the goalies much room for manoeuvre.

With the exception of Davidson, the team’s other five 20+ goal scorers have all been held in check so far.

How can we explain this general breakdown in the forwards?

It’s hard to understand, because without being an offensive powerhouse, the Rocket still finished 11th in the AHL in goals scored with 229.

Yet Checkers goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen wasn’t exceptional. He does the job and makes the key saves when it counts.

It’s just that the Rocket players aren’t doing much to make life difficult for him and disturb his work.

We need to create more traffic in front of him.

What’s more, the Lavallois have tested Kähkönen less and less: after getting 31 shots in the first game of the series, they only got 25 and 23 shots in the next two games, which isn’t good enough.

In short, the Rocket will have to wake up and play better, both offensively and defensively, if they don’t want to be outplayed by the Checkers in the next game and avoid the insult of a sweep.


Overtime

– London in control.

– What a goal!

– Interesting statistic.

– Solid slam!

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