AHL: Dominant performance from Joshua Roy in a rockstar victory

LAVAL, Queensland – Joshua Roy’s name was already setting social media on fire, but Quebecers added fuel to the fire Friday night.

Roy collected five points, including his first hat trick in the American Hockey League, and the Laval Rocket defeated the Rochester Americans 8-4 at Place Bell Arena.

Things were already going well for Roy in his rookie season in the AHL, when he had four points in his first three games.

Paired with Lucas Condotta and Sean Farrell, at the suggestion of Montreal Canadiens associate director of hockey development Scott Pellerin, the 20-year-old forward seemed to be attracting the puck like a magnet all evening.

Roy participated in five consecutive missile goals (1-2-1), scoring a natural hat-trick to move to the top of the scoring charts in the American League.

3 balls for 3 goals! Joshua Roy’s first professional hat-trick!
3 balls for 3 goals! First professional hat-trick! pic.twitter.com/ewBxHNNZo3

– Rocket Laval (@RocketLaval)
October 21, 2023

It was enough for Habs fans to ask for him to be called up to the National Hockey League, in particular to compensate for the absence of midfielder Kirby Dach. But Roy refuses to give up despite very good performances at the beginning of the season.

“I’m not thinking about that now. I’m here and as long as that’s the case, I’ll continue to focus on winning games in Laval. We have a great group, so I’ll keep working hard,” the Canadian fifth-round pick in 2021 said. There are games like this, where it falls “It’s all on you. It’s nice to experience evenings like this.”

The Rocket players are certainly not in a rush to see him pack his bags for the big club.

Along with Roy, Condotta and Farrell each collected a goal and an assist for Laval. In Farrell’s case, it was his first career goal in the NHL, although he can boast that he has already scored one goal in the NHL.

The Habs were a fourth-round pick in 2020, and Farrell was able to put in a good performance on Friday, after a slightly quieter three games. The small forward noted that there has been a period of adjustment with experience between the American collegiate ranks, the National Hockey League and now the American League.

“In every role, I have to find ways to use my skills and play style to create plays,” he explained. The American League is more physical and teams exchange attacks less frequently. Many defenders come along the boards to deliver big hits. I try to be smart with my positioning. »

Riley McKay also collected a goal and an assist, while Lias Andersson and Joel Armia completed the scoring for the Rockets, who finally achieved their first win of the season after three failed attempts. Brandon Gignac contributed three goals.

“We attended all three periods this evening and we made the difference,” said Rocket coach Jean-François Holly. There were many great performances from many players. It was a team effort and we played hard from start to finish. »

Jacob Dubis also had his first night in the AHL, enjoying his first career victory after stopping 35 shots. After allowing two quick goals, Dobis made a key save on a Mason Jobst shot and the game seemed to swing from there.

“He’s a young goalkeeper, so there will be ups and downs. After the second goal, things could have gotten out of hand, but he made a crucial save and kept us in the game. After that, we had the upper hand,” Holly said.

Brendan Warren, Jeremy Davies, Alexander Kisakov and Callie Clague responded for the Americans (2-2-0), who defeated the Rockets in overtime on Wednesday night. Michael Hauser had the trust of his coach, Seth Appert, but surrendered seven times on 33 shots.

Roy show

Soon the missile began to attack. After the first missed opportunity on the power play, Laval recovered on their second attempt, a few minutes later. Anderson jumped on the return shot to open the scoring.

The celebrations were short-lived when Warne and Davies took turns stunning Doubis into the top corner inside 87 seconds.

Led by Dobis’s save, the home side regained the momentum to return to the dressing room with a one-goal priority, thanks to Mackay and Condotta.

The Rocket started the second period with aplomb and the chemistry between Farrell and Roy was evident. During the build-up to the three-man attack, Farrell put the finishing touches on a beautiful pass from his teammate to make it 4-2.

Roy continued to deliver at the end of the second half and at the start of the final third. During a two-on-one push, he sent a nice backhand to Houser to make the red light shine.

After 32 seconds, Roy forgot in front of the net and beat the Americans goalkeeper between the cushions to complete his first hat-trick in the American League.

The Americans made things interesting with two quick goals scored by Kisakov and Kalaj, but the Rockets succeeded in achieving the goal when Armia sent the ball into the empty net.