For the second straight game, goaltender Cayden Primeau worked miracles in front of his net and saved 31 pucks to guide the Laval Rocket to a 3-1 victory on Monday night against the Rochester Americans at Place Bell.
Perfection may not be in this world, but Cayden Primeau has been close to it in the first two games of the series.
After a brave storm in the first period with a 6-1 win on Sunday night, Primeau stood up this time to allow the Rockets to maintain their slim lead.
Cayden saved a lot in the second period, especially on the penalty kill. They had a chance to cross pass, but he made a save. Stops like this give you energy and momentumreviewed Rocket head coach, Jean-François Houle.
The Montreal Canadiens ’seventh-round pick in 2017 recorded his third straight win and 5-1 in the current playoffs, with 1.65 goals against the average and, 949.
His brilliance, reminiscent of Carey Price’s playoff run with the Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007, gave the Rockets a 2-0 lead in this North Division Finals series. The third meeting will take place Wednesday night in Rochester.
However, Primeau did not do it all alone. For most of the night, the Rocket defensemen whispered to the talented young American players and showed a good sense of hope with their stick.
We play our style of play and not that of the other team. We play hard, we’re physical and their best players don’t want to be tackled. We need to maintain our identity. It was one of the best team games we’ve played all year. When we make a mistake, Primeau is there to save usvoice defender Louie Belpedio, who scored one of three goals for the Rockets.
Lucas Condotta and Brandon Gignac completed the scoring for Laval, who finished many of its net plays despite the presence of the Americans ’impressive defensemen. The Rocket players also outscored four shorthanded players thanks to a few blocked shots and a good job of getting Primeau to see the game in front of him.
Arttu Ruotsalainen is the only scorer for the Americans. After being knocked out in Game 1 of the series, Aaron Dell won the confidence of head coach Seth Appert and stopped 29 of 32 pucks.
Primeau delivered the Rocket
The Rocket wanted to start with a better start than the first game of the series and they got the desired result after just over five minutes of play.
Receiving a pass from Alex Belzile on point, Tory Dello fired a low shot, which Dell stopped with his right foot. However, Gignac followed the game and jumped in return to push the puck into a free net.
As Primeau did the day before for Rocket, Dell pulled a few rabbits out of his hat in front of the net of visitors. Notably he took the shield to make a spectacular save on Belzile, in the middle of the first period.
The Laval team doubled their lead by taking advantage of a four-on-two counterattack. Paquette left the puck to Belpedio, who was coming in the second wave, and the defenseman’s shot went to Dell’s right. The Americans ’goaltender may have been bothered by defender Jimmy Schuldt’s slip.
The rest of the season is Primeau’s business. Most had no choice but to sing his name after he made two jewel saves to Ruotsalainen and Lukas Rousek in the last minute.
Condotta dealt a severe blow to the Americans by flashing a red light in the middle of the third period. He jumped on a return shot from Peter Abbandonato to give the Rocket a 3-0 lead.
Ruotsalainen beat Primeau when the Americans retired their goaltender in favor of the sixth forward, but it was too small, too late.
Source: Radio-Canada
