With Kähkönen at his best, the Laval Rocket get off to a strong start

Habs have a chance to finish their first-round series, as the Laval Rocket and Montreal Victoire begin their playoff runs.

The Rocket saw two sides of Kaapo Kähkönen as the regular season came to a close. On Wednesday night, the Finnish goaltender showed his best side to help the Canadiens’ farm team get off to a strong start in the playoffs.

Kähkönen dispelled any doubts right from the start and, backed by a disciplined team in control of the game, he delivered a reassuring performance with 20 saves in a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Marlies.

The Rocket didn’t need any miracles from their goalie to strike first in this best-of-five series, but Kähkönen’s solid performance likely put out a small red light that had been flashing on the team’s dashboard.

The veteran netminder’s engine had been leaking oil toward the end of the season.

In his four starts in April, he posted a 5.25 goals-against average and a .786 save percentage.

However, in his four previous outings, he had been nearly unbeatable: a 1.20 goals-against average and a .951 save percentage.

Clearly, Kähkönen took advantage of the long break his team had between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs to shake off the bad luck, regain his form, and perhaps ease the anxiety of those still waiting for Jacob Fowler’s return to the North Shore.

“First and foremost, I rested and reset,” said the goaltender, who started 38 regular-season games.

“I worked on a few aspects of my game, and off the ice, I was able to take care of my body. Other than that, it was like a typical preseason. This is the most enjoyable part of the year, and we have the team to go far, so we might as well get out on the ice and enjoy it.”

Early in the game, Kähkönen beat Benoit-Olivier Groulx twice on close-range one-timers.

The goaltender’s quick reflexes notably helped the Rocket effectively defend a two-man disadvantage for 52 seconds.

In the second period, he stopped a breakaway attempt by Reese Johnson.

The rest of his performance was a matter of routine excellence, as the Marlies struggled to sustain any threat around his net.

In fact, there were six minutes left in the final period when the visitors managed their first shot of the frame.

Kähkönen lost his shutout a few moments later, courtesy of Quebec native Cédric Paré.

But for those tempted to downplay the impact of the 29-year-old veteran in this successful Rocket debut, it’s worth noting that he had allowed four goals on just 14 shots in his last appearance against Toronto.

“I wasn’t worried,” downplayed captain Laurent Dauphin, back in action after missing the last three weeks of the season. “He’s been through it all before, and it showed. He was really solid.”

“We saw him last year on the other side; we saw that he was very good,” recalled coach Pascal Vincent, referring to Kähkönen’s contribution — six goals allowed in four games — to the Rocket’s elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals while he was playing for the Charlotte Checkers.

“He has a lot of experience, and not much fazes him. He’s a thoughtful guy; he prepares well. He has a pretty good grasp of who he is as a player and how he needs to prepare. I think his experience is helping him a lot right now.”

Pressure and turnarounds

Florian Xhekaj, Joshua Roy, and Samuel Blais were the night’s scorers.

Xhekaj scored the first goal of the series midway through the first period, capitalizing almost instantly on the strong work of the Rocket’s defensive teams.

Taking advantage of a solid check by Tyler Thorpe, the big man intercepted a terrible pass from Michael Pezzetta in front of the Marlies’ net and found the perfect shooting angle to beat Dennis Hildeby.

Roy’s game-winning goal, seven minutes into the final period, came from a similar play.

It was the pressure applied by Owen Beck in the deep zone that forced Easton Cowan to clear the puck.

After Sean Farrell played the role of playmaker, Roy shook off two defenders before spinning around and surprising Hildeby.

For Roy, the reason the Rocket managed to dominate a team that had beaten them four times in a row in the second half of the season was “really how physical we were. That was really the game plan.”

“I felt confident the whole game with the way we were playing,” Vincent concluded. “With our forecheck, the way we were killing plays at the blue line, or protecting the slot in our defensive zone, I felt the team was in control.”

Blais finished the job into an empty net.

Game 2 of the series is set to take place Friday at Place Bell.

Nicolas Landry