After a rough stint in Montreal, Cayden Primeau has pulled himself together in the minors, so he’s carrying the Laval Rocket to the third round of the American Hockey League (AHL) playoffs.
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The 22-year-old goaltender conceded just three goals on 62 shots at the Syracuse Crunch in games 2 and 3. The Montreal Canadiens’ farm club thus leads 2-1 and will be able to end the series on Saturday, in front of his supporters at Place Bell.
“I felt really good in those last two games,” Primeau said Friday at a press conference. I felt like my readings were pretty good. And, you know, the guys played great hockey, so that definitely helped. They push guys in front of the net, which makes it difficult to get into [the slot]. The team is playing well, so that helps me.”
Primeau was not, however, the first choice of head coach Jean-François Houle to start this series. It was indeed Quebecer Kevin Poulin who defended the club’s cage during the first duel.
Primeau was not shocked by this decision since Poulin had an excellent season. Instead, he focused on his own preparation, in case Houle called upon his services. He also indicated that he had worked on the mental aspect of things.
His confidence was indeed to be rebuilt, he who showed a record of 1-7-1, a high-sounding goals-against average of 4.62 and an efficiency rate of .868 with the CH. He was taken out of five of the nine games he had started.
“I spoke to several people for the mental aspect, explained Primeau. You have to have a short memory. The most important thing was to get back to my game and do the things that allowed me to be successful. Guys helped me with that. It was good, the learning curve. Obviously, you never want to go through something like that. But I take the positive, and it helped me move forward.”
With the help of Allen
Primeau notably thanked goalkeeper coach Marco Marciano, psychologist David Scott and Canadian goaltender Jake Allen.
“We have a psychologist, ‘Scottie’, he helps a lot,” Primeau said. Jake Allen helped me. He drove me away sometimes. He just told me [about his experiences]. Super grateful that he did this. No one had asked him. It shows what a good teammate he is.”
“It doesn’t matter how things go, you just have to try to be better every day,” Allen told him during practices in Montreal. If things aren’t going your way or you’re not feeling your best, focus on one aspect and try to work on that.”
Primeau should probably be back at his post on Saturday at 3 p.m. for the fourth game of this series, in Laval. And he will be ready.
“We still have work to do. You have to win another one to move forward. »
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