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Ten days on the road, spent in hotels and on the bus, might have helped players on the Laval Rocket bond. But the team’s hopes of making the playoffs weren’t enhanced after they lost all five games.

“We weren’t expecting it, either. We’re a little snake-bitten right now,” veteran defenceman Karl Alzner said Tuesday after the Rocket returned home and practised for an hour at Place Bell.

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Laval garnered only one point of a possible 10 from the excursion, losing the opening game to Belleville in overtime. The Rocket was outscored 17-7 during that span, despite enjoying an edge in shots in three of the games. And the team’s power play was miserable, connecting on only two of 26 opportunities, which head coach Joël Bouchard attributed to the loss of defenceman Xavier Ouellet, who was recently recalled by the Canadiens.

Photo by Pierre Obendrauf / Montreal Gazette

With Montreal very likely to miss the playoffs for a third successive season, management undoubtedly was hoping its American Hockey League affiliate would reach the post-season. The Canadiens’ minor-league club has only one playoff appearance — albeit brief — since 2012 and hasn’t won a playoff round since 2011, when the team played in Hamilton.