It didn’t take long for Montreal Canadiens forward Joshua Roy to register his name on an NHL scoresheet.
The 20-year-old was recently called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket due to a lack of healthy bodies up front. His first two games were fairly quiet, par for the course when discussing a rookie who made his professional hockey debut a few months ago.
The third game, however, was different.
Not only did Roy look more comfortable, he was creating chances for his teammates, and capitalizing on chances created by his centre, Sean Monahan.
Roy scored the second goal of the game against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night after a very nice setup by Monahan, which gave him enough time and space to find the back of the net.
Full credit to Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis, as he put Roy on a line that would allow him to spend a fairly healthy amount of time in the offensive zone, rather than giving him limited ice time on the fourth line.
Roy started his first professional hockey season in the AHL on the right foot, scoring 12 points in just six games. There were many fans calling for a promotion to the NHL at that point, but Canadiens management wisely gave him more time to establish his identity in the AHL.
The production slowed after the hot start, which is perfectly normal for a young, talented forward. The jump from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) to the AHL is one of the most difficult challenges for any hockey player.
Roy eventually found his rhythm again, and prior to his call-up to the NHL, the Sniper Beauceron earned seven points in six games, pushing his season totals to 12 goals and 18 assists in 34 games, trailing only Brandon Gignac for the team lead in points.
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