Rocket eliminated: Here are the players to watch for a call-up to the Habs

Félix Forget
Rocket eliminated: Here are the players to watch for a call-up to the Habs
Credit: Steven Ryan/NHLI via Getty Images

This afternoon, the Laval Rocket played the fifth and final game of their series against the Marlies. At stake: a spot to face the Cleveland Monsters in the next round.

And in the end, the Habs' farm team fell short. We'll come back to that a bit later: first, let's talk about the implications for the Canadiens.

Now that the Rocket's season is over, we can expect a wave of call-ups from the Habs to form a group of Black Aces. After all, there's no point in keeping players in the AHL if the team has been eliminated.

We suspect Adam Engström will be called up, as he was with the big club less than a week ago. We can wonder whether Kaapo Kahkönen will become the fourth goaltender in town, just as we can imagine that Samuel Blais, Joshua Roy, Owen Beck, and Florian Xhekaj—who have all played games with the Habs this year—will all be called up.

Reminder: there is no limit on the number of players a team can have on its roster during the playoffs. The Canadiens can therefore call up several players whose sole purpose will be to stay in shape in case of an emergency.

But the big question is David Reinbacher. The defenseman was unable to play today in the series' final game, and he missed time in previous games, likely due to an injury.

Will he be fit enough to be called up and be an option for Martin St-Louis? Good question.

So, logically, we should expect a wave of call-ups from the Habs in the coming hours. There should be quite a crowd in the press box.

But in the meantime, for those who missed the game, let's take a look at what happened today, starting with the Rocket's lineup.

In addition to Reinbacher, Pascal Vincent was also without Marc Del Gaizo, who was also injured.

As for the Marlies, the team once again put their trust in Artur Akhtyamov despite the 4-0 loss in their last game.

Here's what it looked like:

We had to wait nearly ten minutes before seeing the first goal… and it was scored by a Rocket player.

Owen Beck opened the scoring to give his team the lead.

After 20 minutes, the score was 1-0 in favor of Laval.

Midway through the second period, however, the Marlies tied the game.

Blake Smith scored his first career AHL playoff goal to tie the game.

But just a few minutes later, the Rocket regained the lead.

And once again, it was Owen Beck who found the net.

After 40 minutes, the Rocket held a 2-1 lead.

In the third period, Reese Johnson capitalized on Marc Johnstone's good work to score.

Once again, the game was tied.

Except this time, Beck didn't immediately restore his team's lead: instead, it was the Marlies who scored the next goal.

A one-timer from Vinni Lettieri beat Kaapo Kahkönen, who'd probably like to see that shot again.

Laval tried everything to tie the game, but the Marlies held on, and the Rocket fell 3-2, ending their season.

It was a shorter playoff run than last year for the Laval team, which had reached the semifinals.


In a nutshell

– Great read on Zach Benson.

– Brian Boyle shows some love for Mike Matheson. His move to protect Zach Benson yesterday has earned him praise.

– Note.

– I like that!

– Makes sense.

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