AHL also suspends season
Coronavirus outbreak leads to pause in action
Following the NHL’S lead, the American Hockey League announced Thursday that it is suspending its season because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“With the health and safety of our players, officials, staff and fans of primary importance, the American Hockey League has announced the suspension of play until further notice, effective immediately, due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic,” the AHL said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. “The AHL will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the 2019-20 season at the appropriate time.”
The Laval Rocket played Wednesday night at Place Bell, extending their winning streak to four games when they beat the Belleville Senators 3-0 at Place Bell.
That was the good news for the Rocket, along with defenceman Noah Juulsen playing his first game since Nov. 29 after being sidelined with recurring headaches and goaltender Cayden Primeau making 15 saves for his fourth shutout of the season.
The Rocket also got bad news Wednesday when they learned Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s season was over because of a spleen injury he suffered during a 5-1 win over the Monsters in Cleveland last Friday night. Kotkaniemi had 1-12-13 totals in 13 games with the Rocket since being sent down by the Canadiens. In 36 games with the Canadiens, the 19-year-old centre had 6-2-8 totals.
Nikita Jevpalovs, Jake Lucchini and Joseph Blandisi scored for the Rocket Wednesday night, while Primeau improved his record to 17-11-3 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. The Rocket outshot the Senators 37-15.
The Rocket improved their record to 30-24-8, good for sixth place in the North Division, four
The AHL will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the 2019-20 season at the appropriate time.
points behind the fourth-place Binghamton Devils for the final playoff spot with 14 games left on the season schedule. The Rocket outscored the opposition 18-5 during their four-game win streak and are 7-1 in their last eight games.
Rocket had been scheduled to play the Devils at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Place Bell.
Juulsen played in only his 13th game this season with the Rocket Wednesday night and has 0-3-3 totals.
The 22-year-old defenceman was limited to 21 games with the Canadiens last season after getting hit in the face twice with a puck during a game against the Washington Capitals in November, suffering a facial fracture. The headaches have been a recurring problem ever since.
The Canadiens selected Juulsen in the first round (26th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.