Had it not been for Yaroslav Askarov’s masterful 43-save performance, the Laval Rocket would no doubt have left Place Bell with a victory and a little more chance of making the playoffs. However, the lack of opportunism sank the Rocket, once again, which lost, 3 to 2, against the Admirals of Milwaukee.
“I would like to say that we could have thrown more. We could have had 70 throws. Maybe that would have helped, ”said Jean-François Houle a little on edge after the meeting.
The Rocket have become accustomed to losing close games. He is still a long way from a playoff spot, and he will begin a defining streak on the road on Sunday.
Still, against the Admirals, the locals did everything. They dominated this game from start to finish. It was, however, impossible to solve the Askarov enigma.
However, this refrain has come up often this season. If the Rocket misses the detail, we will have to think back to all those hotly contested games where it was impossible to capitalize.
“I would like to have Ovechkin, Crosby and MacKinnon. But we don’t have them,” the head coach said.
Houle doesn’t have his star players, obviously, but he can still rely on players who can produce, especially when every game is crucial.
This is the case of Pierrick Dubé. The striker scored his second goal, on the power play. He’s on a 17-point streak in his last 17 games.
His head coach was clear: “Dubé was our best player tonight. And he’s been our best player for two or three nights in a row. »
However, Houle couldn’t say the same for his captain Gabriel Bourque. The veteran scored the first goal for his team, of course, but he received a bad penalty in the third period. At that time, the team was already playing with one man less. This penalty led to Joakim Kemell’s winning goal. “It was not a good punishment. No. I didn’t like it,” Houle said dryly.
The main interested party looked very low, in the locker room, after the match. “A punishment that was too much. It cost the game. »
Two young people were under the magnifying glass. Jayden Struble, for his first professional game. And Emil Heineman, for his second game.
Struble was used as the seventh defender. He didn’t break anything. He was even at fault on the opponent’s second goal, but the Canadian’s second-round pick in 2019 was delighted to have finally broken the ice. “It was faster and more robust, obviously. But I think it went well. I think I played well. It was a good first. Houle agreed.
Heineman, for his part, earned a second point in two games, feeding Dubé on his goal. Two games don’t make a career, but obviously he made a good first impression on his head coach.
Obviously, these players will age. They will learn and they will grow, as Luke Combs sings on his new album, released during this country evening at Place Bell. In Heineman’s case, Houle believes “he has a high ceiling and that’s what makes him a good prospect.”
The Nashville Predators made the giant, right-handed goaltender the 11th overall pick in the 2020 draft.
The leaders of the organization must be rubbing their hands seeing him evolve this season. He won 24 of his 42 matches. Beyond his stats, his simple presence in net and his “aggressive and quick” way, according to Bourque, of challenging every puck increases his team’s chances of winning every game.
He particularly distinguished himself during a streak of about four minutes in the middle of the second period, during which the Rocket collected the chances to score. Bourque, Dubé, Heineman, Dello and Simoneau were all frustrated with Askarov, elastic like Luc Senay in his glory years. “I don’t know how he stopped them, but he stopped them,” Houle replied still appalled.
According to him, “the keeper made the difference” on Friday night.
