Charlotte breezes to 5-1 victory over Laval Rocket
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No longer is it a question of whether the Laval Rocket will win this AHL Eastern Conference final series.
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Instead, can the Rocket even win a game? That appears unlikely.
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Laval, a relatively young team, has provided little opposition for the vastly superior, more talented and experienced Charlotte Checkers.
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Sunday afternoon, in what had to be considered a must-win scenario, the visiting Rocket were nothing but pushovers and totally outclassed yet again. The Checkers skated to an easy 5-1 victory before 8,292 spectators at the Bojangles Coliseum and now lead the best-of-seven series 3-0.
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On the bright side, for the first time in the series, Laval didn't surrender a shorthanded goal. Small consolation.
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While the Rocket finished first overall in the league this season, the team has collectively hit a wall. The players and head coach Pascal Vincent simply have no answer and appear unable to stop the bleeding.
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Laval will attempt to stave off elimination Tuesday night in Charlotte (7 p.m., RDS). Should the visitors somehow triumph, the fifth game would be played in Charlotte on Thursday night.
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In the opening-round of the 1960 playoffs, Rochester defeated Cleveland. In the 1989 Southern Division final, Adirondack defeated Hershey. The fifth and deciding games were decided in overtime. And in the 2013 Eastern Conference semifinal, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton beat Providence.
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Laval hasn't lost three successive games since late November — those three defeats all coming on the road.
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Riley Bezeau paced Charlotte on Sunday with two goals. Will Lockwood, John Leonard and Sandis Vilmanis also scored. Bezeau, who scored only two goals in 24 regular-season games, now has three alone against Laval. As for Leonard, he continues to lead Charlotte in scoring, with six goals and 10 points in 11 games. Leonard also extended his point streak to seven games, while Lockwood has points in four consecutive games.
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The Checkers are on a seven-game winning streak, having not lost since May 9.
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Charlotte broke this game open with four second-period goals. Two were scored within 68 seconds, providing the Checkers with a 3-0 lead. Vincent called a time-out at that juncture in an attempt to settle down his team, but it didn't work. Charlotte added another score, taking a 4-0 lead — the three goals coming in a span of 4:21.
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