HabsWorld.net --
Laval returned home last week after an eventful trip to Calgary. Things didn’t get off to a great start but the Rocket rebounded nicely, picking up a pair of wins against Cleveland to close out a good week in the standings.
The Week That Was
Nov. 4: Phantoms 5, Rocket 4 (OT) – Laval had the lead three separate times in this one but squandered each of them. Lehigh Valley then took their first lead in the third period, forcing the Rocket to pull off a comeback of their own which they did when Filip Mesar picked up his second of the game to force overtime. However, in the extra session, Zayde Wisdom picked up the winner to secure the extra point.
Nov. 6: Rocket 6, Monsters 2 – Laval’s secondary scoring helped carry the way in this one. Josh Nadeau opened up the scoring while Dillan Bentley added one from the fourth line in the second. Then, Hunter McKown had a highlight-reel goal, spinning and going between his legs to score against his former team. He had himself a night against the team that traded him back in the offseason.
Nov. 7: Rocket 4, Monsters 2 – Special teams were big for the Rocket early on, with David Reinbacher scoring shorthanded and Samuel Poulin adding a power play marker in the first period. Then, Vincent Arseneau one-timed a rebound home as the depth scoring showed up once again; Bentley added his second in as many games to give Kevin Mandolese and Laval some breathing room from there.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | SOG | PIMS |
| 3 | Luke Mittelstadt | 3 | 0 | 2 | -1 | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Ethan Samson | 1 | 0 | 0 | E | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | Brett Berard | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 9 | 0 |
| 11 | Tyler Thorpe | 3 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 2 |
| 12 | Owen Protz | 2 | 0 | 1 | +1 | 1 | 4 |
| 18 | Vincent Arseneau | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 3 | 5 |
| 19 | Dillan Bentley | 3 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | 0 |
| 20 | Josh Nadeau | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 10 | 0 |
| 22 | Alex Belzile | 3 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 8 | 2 |
| 25 | Braden Hache | 3 | 0 | 1 | +5 | 6 | 6 |
| 27 | Laurent Dauphin | 3 | 2 | 2 | +1 | 11 | 0 |
| 36 | Sasha Pastujov | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 4 |
| 41 | Hunter McKown | 3 | 1 | 1 | +3 | 3 | 2 |
| 44 | Reilly Walsh | 3 | 0 | 3 | +4 | 7 | 2 |
| 48 | Filip Mesar | 3 | 2 | 0 | +4 | 5 | 0 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 3 | 0 | 1 | +2 | 5 | 6 |
| 55 | Maksymilian Szuber | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 4 | 0 |
| 64 | David Reinbacher | 3 | 2 | 0 | +1 | 5 | 4 |
| 81 | Xavier Simoneau | 3 | 0 | 4 | +1 | 1 | 6 |
| 88 | Samuel Poulin | 2 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 6 | 0 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 31 | Kevin Mandolese | 1-0-1 | 3.47 | .875 | 0 |
| 34 | Kaapo Kahkonen | 1-0-0 | 2.00 | .929 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Berard/Pastujov (6)
Assists: Dauphin/Mittelstadt (13)
Points: Luke Mittelstadt (18)
+/-: Maksymilian Szuber (+9)
PIMS: Braden Hache (42)
Shots: Brett Berard (46)
News and Notes
– There was good news and bad news on the injury front. The good news is that Samuel Poulin returned after missing five games. However, the bad news is that Sasha Pastujov was injured blocking a pass on Friday’s game, missing Saturday’s contest as a result.
– Owen Protz’s assist on Friday was his first career AHL point.
– Filip Mesar now has five goals on the season in 14 games. By comparison, it took until January 24th last year to reach that mark, a span of 41 contests.
Last Game’s Lines:
Berard – Dauphin – Belzile
Simoneau – Bentley – Thorpe
Davidson – Poulin – Mesar
Arseneau – McKown – Nadeau
Mittelstadt – Reinbacher
Hache – Walsh
Szuber – Samson
The Week Ahead
Wednesday at Syracuse: For the fourth time already this season, the Rocket take on the Crunch. (They only play two more times after this.) Laval has won two of the three matchups so far, those coming in blowout fashion by a combined score of 11-2. Reilly Walsh and Luke Mittelstadt have a combined 10 points against Syracuse while these matchups have gotten a little chippy with the Rocket taking 76 penalty minutes already. They still have some work to do to catch Syracuse on that front, however.
Friday/Saturday at Rochester: The Americans have been stingy defensively this season but haven’t had quite the same level of firepower Laval has had early on. That said, they have some capable veterans to carry them, as former Hab Matthew Peca is among the AHL’s top scorers while Conor Sheary is a little under a point per game.
Final Thought
With Luke Mittelstadt hovering near the league lead in points, it has largely overshadowed the fact that Reilly Walsh is just behind him in team scoring. While Mittelstadt’s offensive performance has been a big surprise, Walsh’s shouldn’t be. He had a big year in the KHL last season and showed offensive upside in the AHL before that.
He has the right role at the moment. He’s not a typical top-pairing offensive player as his defensive limitations can be an issue at times. The good news is that he doesn’t need to be in that role, with the Mittelstadt-Reinbacher pairing getting the toughest minutes. That has allowed Walsh to shine.
Bryce Pickford is working his way toward a return and it will be very interesting to see what happens to Walsh at that point. Development is the priority so they’ll want Pickford playing an important role but how do you demote a blueliner averaging more than a point-per-game? It’s a good problem that Daniel Jacob will soon have to contend with. For now, he has a capable veteran who is more than holding his own in Walsh.
