HabsWorld.net --
While Laval’s winning streak came to an end last week, they were still able to pick up a pair of victories on home ice to take over first place in the Eastern Conference for the time being.
The Week That Was
Oct. 21: Rocket 5, Crunch 1 – After struggling in the home opener against Syracuse, Laval was much better prepared out of the gate. Even though they trailed heading into the second period, they were blanketing the Crunch defensively, limiting their attempts while waiting for the offence to get going. And it got going. They managed five goals on 28 shots over the final 40 minutes, headlined by a pair of tallies from defenceman Reilly Walsh.
Oct. 23: Rocket 4, Hammers 2 – Laval’s supporting cast got them started in this one, with goals from Filip Mesar and Hunter McKown in the second period, though Hamilton answered those before the end of the frame. Then, in the third, it was the top forwards who got the job done. Sasha Pastujov scored yet another power play goal that eventually stood as the winner while Brett Berard had the empty-netter to give Kevin Mandolese his second win in as many starts this season.
Oct. 24: Hammers 2, Rocket 1 – Offensively, Laval played better in this one than the night before. They had more chances and just struggled to beat rookie Josh Kotai. Meanwhile, Ethan Bear scored for Hamilton on the opening shift of the game while Matthew Highmore (once a rookie camp invitee by the Habs years ago) added the eventual winner in the second. Dillan Bentley had his first career professional goal in the losing effort for the Rocket.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 3 | Luke Mittelstadt | 3 | 0 | 2 | +1 | 9 | 0 |
| 4 | Ethan Samson | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Brett Berard | 3 | 1 | 2 | +4 | 13 | 4 |
| 11 | Tyler Thorpe | 3 | 0 | 0 | E | 5 | 2 |
| 12 | Owen Protz | 3 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 0 |
| 19 | Dillan Bentley | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 6 | 4 |
| 20 | Josh Nadeau | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 5 | 0 |
| 24 | Israel Mianscum | 2 | 0 | 0 | E | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Braden Hache | 3 | 0 | 1 | E | 4 | 11 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 3 | 2 |
| 36 | Sasha Pastujov | 3 | 2 | 0 | -2 | 12 | 4 |
| 41 | Hunter McKown | 3 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 3 | 4 |
| 44 | Reilly Walsh | 3 | 2 | 2 | +2 | 6 | 0 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 3 | 1 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 2 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 3 | 7 |
| 55 | Maksymilian Szuber | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 2 | 2 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | 0 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 0 |
| 88 | Samuel Poulin | 1 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 4 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Kevin Mandolese | 1-0-0 | 2.00 | .909 | 0 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 1-1-0 | 1.53 | .930 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Sasha Pastujov (6)
Assists: Luke Mittelstadt (11)
Points: Luke Mittelstadt (15)
+/-: Maksymilian Szuber (+7)
PIMS: Braden Hache (19)
Shots: Sasha Pastujov (35)
News and Notes
– David Reinbacher and Owen Beck were reassigned to Laval to play against Syracuse. Reinbacher remained with the Rocket after that one while Beck rejoined Montreal.
– Alex Belzile missed a game with an undisclosed injury while Samuel Poulin missed two games with an undisclosed injury of his own.
– Laval signed forward Pierrick Dube to a PTO deal. He last suited up for the Rocket in 2022-23 and has had stints with Hershey and Bridgeport since then. In a corresponding move, Alexandr Legkov was returned to ECHL Trois-Rivieres.
Last Game’s Lines:
Pastujov – Dauphin – Belzile
Berard – McKown – Mesar
Simoneau – Bentley – Thorpe
Mianscum – Davidson – Nadeau
Mittelstadt – Reinbacher
Hache – Walsh
Protz – Szuber
The Week Ahead
Thursday/Saturday at Calgary: The veterans have been doing the heavy lifting offensively for the Wranglers this season, with Ben Jones, Dryden Hunt, and Alex Nylander all among their top four in scoring. They also have young forward Connor Zary after he cleared waivers with the Flames earlier this month. He has four points in six games since being sent down. Calgary also has former Laval centre Will Dineen on the roster. Goaltending has been a bit shaky for them early on, however, with their tandem playing to a .886 SV%, offsetting having one of the best offences in the AHL early on.
Final Thought
We’re nine games into the season and Sasha Pastujov is already one power play goal shy of matching his career high at the AHL level. He has six goals this season, all of which have come with the man advantage. (That means he’s not doing much at full strength but if you’re scoring that much on the power play, that’s okay.)
The book on him when he was acquired has been pretty accurate thus far. He has an NHL-level shot and the rest of his game needs some work. But he’s a strong triggerman on the man advantage. Doesn’t that sound like something the Habs could use right about now on their moribund power play?
The deficiencies are what held Pastujov from playing in Anaheim, even when the Ducks were trying a lot of other players. If Pastujov keeps this level of scoring up much longer, it’s going to be hard to deny him that chance for very long. With Montreal needing power play help, he should be at the top of the recall list as things stand.
