Mired in a five-game losing streak, the Laval Rocket returned home to Place Bell after dropping a pair of closely contested games in Charlotte against the Checkers.
Standing in front of them were the Belleville Senators, one of the teams leading Laval in the AHL’s North Division. Luckily for the Rocket, rookie sensation Drake Batherson is still on recall with the Ottawa Senators, leaving their offence to be driven by Jack Rodewald (15 points) and Rudolfs Balcers (13 points).
Of course, three of Laval’s top-five scorers are still with the Canadiens, so going into this game Joël Bouchard was looking for more production from his veteran players like Alexandre Grenier, Hunter Shinkaruk, and Michael McCarron.