Looking At David Reinbacher’s First Weekend Back

After missing the first four weeks of the AHL season, David Reinbacher made his return to action with the Laval Rocket on Friday night against the Rochester Americans and also played again on Saturday afternoon against the Americans again. With that being said, he had his ups and downs throughout both games as he tried to get rid of the rust from being out of action for the Rocket’s first 8 games of the season.

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Reinbacher’s first game on Friday night was specifically filled with challenges for the newly 21-year-old defenseman who spent most of the game mainly getting his feet under him. Unfortunately, he struggled to keep up with Americans forward Trevor Kuntar late in the 3rd period, which resulted in the Sabres prospect getting the game-winning goal against the Rocket. Kuntar managed to create enough separation that led to a 2-on-1 where the passing lane was cut off by Reinbacher’s defensive partner, Adam Engstrom, leaving Kuntar with a very clear passing lane. In terms of anything that stood out in the game for Reinbacher, it was sadly that play that best described Friday night’s game at Place Bell.

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After the game, Reinbacher mentioned how he felt he should have played Kuntar better and finished his body check instead of trying to catch up to Kuntar and cut the gap between them. In hindsight, Reinbacher understood how he had read the play wrong and should have gotten his body on Kuntar to prevent the scoring chance in the first place.

Head coach Pascal Vincent said in his post-game interview that he appreciated that Reinbacher took responsibility, but at the same time, he explained that it was the defenseman’s first game back and he will make a few errors before he gets back to his normal self.

It being his first game back is not really a good excuse, but he still deserves the benefit of the doubt for his first 2-3 games as he slowly catches up to his teammates in terms of his overall game shape. With that being said, each game should show improvement from Reinbacher as he gets back to the speed of the game.

Based on Saturday’s game, it seemed like that was definitely the case. Reinbacher was able to play a strong 2-way game and even get his first point of the season with a primary assist on Jared Davidson’s power play goal early in the 3rd period to put the Rocket up 4-1. They eventually won the game 5-2 and Reinbacher played a much more solid game on both ends of the ice.

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During both games this weekend, Reinbacher took a penalty. The first game it was due to hooking just 4:43 into the first period, which was a sign that he clearly was very sluggish during his first frame of the season. Meanwhile, on Saturday, Reinbacher’s penalty was for roughing on a play where he started showing the physical side of his game.

Overall, Reinbacher had a tough weekend but he did show signs of progress in the 2nd game as opposed to his first matchup. The Habs prospect should be fine soon enough, but it might take a few more games before he is back to being a strong defensive presence that thrives on cutting off rushes with his big body, skating, and his ability to read the play in his own zone.

How long do you think it will be before we see the dominant Reinbacher from last year’s AHL playoffs?