Sean Farrell had a very good night in his AHL playoffs debut. Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn ImagesWhile the Montreal Canadiens’ season came to a close with a fourth defeat against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, the Laval Rocket kicked off its quest for the Calder Cup in the AHL playoffs with a win in the first game of its division semifinal against the Cleveland Monsters.
The game was also Jacob Fowler’s first taste of professional playoff action since the Habs had called up regular Laval goaltender Cayden Primeau following Samuel Montembeault’s injury in game three. Canadiens: Season Of Progress Comes To An End
The youngster did well, allowing two goals on 25 shots, for a .920 save percentage. Fowler wasn’t the only one making his pro playoffs debut; Owen Beck, Adam Engstrom, Riley Kidney, Sean Farrell, Luke Tuch, Gustav Lindstrom, and Florian Xhekaj were all in the same boat.
Of the lot, Sean Farrell stood out the most, scoring two goals to help the Rocket to a 3-2 win. The 23-year-old left winger had a very strong second half this season, finishing the year with 44 points in 67 games, so it wasn’t all that surprising to see him pick up where he left off before Laval got its bye week for the first round.
Farrell had five shots on the night, scoring his first goal at even strength and his second one, just over three minutes later, on the power play, 24 seconds before the end of the second frame, allowing the Rocket to go back to the dressing room with a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Owen Beck then scored what was the insurance marker at the time, five minutes into the third frame, on his only shot of the night. However, it ended up being the game-winning goal since the Monsters scored a power-play goal with less than three minutes left through Denton Mateychuk. The goal was scored with Farrell sitting in the box for tripping, the sole penalty of the final frame.
Game two is set to take place in Cleveland on Friday, with the rest of the series being played in Laval. For those wondering, the AHL tries to minimize travel costs and gives the team with the home-ice advantage the opportunity to decide which games they’d like to play at home. The Rocket elected to start the series in Cleveland to have the three potentially series-clinching games at home in Laval.
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