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Toronto Marlies fall in Game 1 of North Division semifinals, Laval hold lead in best-of-5 series
Photo credit: Steven Ellis/Daily Faceoff
Apr 30, 2026, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 30, 2026, 00:33 EDT
The Toronto Marlies fell 3-1 to the Laval Rocket on Wednesday night during Game 1 of the North Division Semifinals at Place Bell.
Joshua Roy scored the game-winning goal at 6:15 of the third period to give the Rocket a 1-0 series lead in the best 3-of-5. Roy, a Canadiens fifth-round draft pick from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, beat Marlies goaltender Dennis Hildeby over the blocker to give the Rocket a 2-0 lead at the time.
Hildeby made his second straight start for the Marlies, turning aside 23 of the 25 shots he faced. After Artur Akhtyamov started the first two games of the first round against the Rochester Americans, Marlies head coach John Gruden turned to Hildeby, who rewarded his decision by stopping 29 shots in a 3-1 victory on Sunday night.
The Rocket jumped out to a first-period lead on a goal by Florian Xhekaj, the younger brother of Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj. Florian was drafted by the Canadiens in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and made his NHL debut this season, skating in five games, picking up his first career point with an assist in a 5-2 win on November 22 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Marlies’ lone goal came with 5:51 remaining in the third period to cut the Rocket’s lead in half. Cédric Paré deflected home a Luke Haymes shot past Kaapo Kähkönen, putting the road club on the board. Defenceman Henry Thrun picked up the secondary assist, while Kähkönen stopped 20-of-21 shots in the victory.
“I think in any playoffs you look at in pro hockey, that’s the type of goals that are scored, and there’s not a lot of skilled plays out there with how little time and space you have,” Haymes said. “I think we did a good job on that one shift of getting to the net.”
Haymes made his NHL debut this season with the Maple Leafs this season, appearing in four games, registering one assist for his first career point. Thrun was acquired last summer by the Maple Leafs in exchange for veteran forward Ryan Reaves. The 25-year-old defenceman skated in four games and was a minus-one rating.
The Rocket stymied the comeback attempt, holding the Marlies to only three third-period shots, keeping the offence that scored 229 goals during the regular season in check for most of the evening. Haymes, who recorded one shot in the loss, spoke post-game to the media about what made the Rocket so tough to generate offence against in that third period.
“We just couldn’t get a lot going. I didn’t think we played fast enough, and that’s something I’m sure we’ll be looking to do more next game,” Haymes said. “Credit to them, they are a good team too, and they were putting the pressure on us, and they did a good job, but we got to find a way to win these games.”
Former Maple Leaf, Samuel Blais, put the game out of reach with an empty net goal with 1:27 remaining. Blais appeared in eight games with the Maple Leafs this season, picking up one goal and two assists, a stretch of games spanning October 29 to November 22.
Game 2 of the series will take place Friday night at Place Bell. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST.
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