Montreal Canadiens: Watch Jesse Ylonen Score Twice in Return To Laval Rocket

The Montreal Canadiens have dealt with so many injuries and players missing games due to Covid that it is just laughable at this point.

Many players who started the season with the Laval Rocket were called up to fill out roster spots for the Canadiens over the past six weeks as an outbreak of Covid in the Habs dressing room eventually reached 22 different players.

One player that was supposed to play a big role in Laval this season, but was called up to fill the gap on the Habs roster was Jesse Ylonen.

The Canadiens second round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft was called up in early December and played seven games with the Habs, scoring a goal and an assist. Then, he too tested positive for Covid on January 4th and was sidelined from the lineup.

Ylonen scored four goals and 14 points in 17 games for the Rocket before being called up and when he got healthy, he got sent back down to the Rocket and picked right up where he left off offensively.

His first game back was against the Utica Comets who are the top ranked team in the AHL this season. That didn’t deter Ylonen who sniped a pair of goals in a big Rocket victory.

With the Rocket on a power play, Yvonne got the puck on his off wing and cut down low with it. He circled back up towards the blue line but when he got the defender to bite on a fake pass back to the point, Ylonen cut to the middle of the ice where he had some space. He took a shot that was backed and then gathered his rebound and fired a wrist shot that went into the net.

In the second period, just a couple of minutes after the Comets had tied the game, Ylonen struck again. This time the Rocket were on the power play again and Ylonen was set up on his off wing where he makes use of his booming shot. He tries to rip a one-timer early in the sequence but misses the net.

A few seconds later, the puck comes to Jean Sebastien Dea in the slot. When Ylonen recognizes this he starts to cut to the net and calls for a pass. He gets the pass, collects the puck, picks his head up to look at the net and then picks a corner with a laser of a wrist shot for his second of the game.

Those two goals bring Ylonen to six goals and 16 points in 18 games. The 22 year old looked fine at the NHL level, though he didn’t pile up points. He is showing to be a capable scorer at the AHL level and the next step is to start producing at the NHL level which should happen in the near future.