Two games, two road wins, and the same 5-2 score both times. The Laval Rocket turned a trip through Massachusetts and Connecticut into a perfect weekend, beating the Springfield Thunderbirds on Saturday and the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday. Veteran Laurent Dauphin set the tone with seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) across the two nights, and goaltender Kaapo Kähkönen held the door shut when the games were still tight.
Kähkönen won both starts and allowed four goals in two games, a 2.00 goals-against average. He stopped 37 of 41 shots over the weekend for a .902 save percentage.
Saturday, October 10: Rocket 5, Thunderbirds 2
The Rocket took control early at the MassMutual Center. Defenseman Reilly Walsh opened the scoring at 10:16 of the first period, with Dauphin and Alex Belzile picking up the assists. Just before the intermission, with Springfield in the box, Luke Mittelstadt made it 2-0 on the power play by getting in front of the goaltender and redirecting a shot.
Springfield pushed back in the second. Michael Buchinger cut the lead to 2-1 at 1:32, scoring on a two-on-one right after his penalty expired. The Rocket answered at 6:25 with a goal nobody expected: Brett Berard scored shorthanded to make it 3-1, and it turned out to be the game-winner. Springfield got one back on a shorthanded goal of its own, when Aleksanteri Kaskimäki beat David Reinbacher and goaltender Kähkönen at 14:27 to make it 3-2.
That was as close as it got. Filip Mešár restored the two-goal cushion at 1:49 of the third period with an even-strength goal, and Belzile sealed it into an empty net at 17:14.
The Numbers Behind the Win
Laval outshot Springfield 34-20. Kähkönen stopped 18 of 20 shots (.900), while Georgii Romanov made 29 saves on 33 shots for the Thunderbirds. The game was a physical one, with 54 penalty minutes between the teams (Springfield 28, Laval 26). The Rocket went 1-for-7 on the power play, and the Thunderbirds were 0-for-6.
Dauphin was the best player on the ice. He did not score, but he earned an assist on three of the five goals (Walsh, Mittelstadt and Belzile) and finished +2. Belzile had a goal and an assist, and Mittelstadt led the team with six shots on goal.
Stars of the Game
Dauphin (3 assists), Belzile (1 goal, 1 assist), Mittelstadt (1 goal, 6 shots on goal) and Berard (the shorthanded game-winner).
Sunday, October 11: Rocket 5, Wolf Pack 2
One night later at PeoplesBank Arena, the Rocket had to come from behind. Hartford struck first for the third straight game when Anton Blidh scored on the power play at 4:20, cleaning up a rebound in the crease after Kähkönen stopped the first shot. Laval needed less than ten minutes to respond.
Luke Mittelstadt tied it at 13:49 with a snap shot from the left circle that beat Callum Tung on the glove side. Then, with 42 seconds left in the period, Josh Nadeau scored his first professional goal on the power play, finishing a scramble in front of the net, and the Rocket went to the break up 2-1.
The second period was a quiet one until the very end. With 39 seconds left, Sasha Pastujov tipped in a Dauphin shot on another power play to make it 3-1. It stood as the game-winning goal.
Dauphin finally scored himself at 8:15 of the third period, his first goal of the season, to make it 4-1. Hartford got a power-play goal back from Liam Greentree at 11:00 when he caught Kähkönen moving the wrong way, but Xavier Simoneau answered at 13:27 by taking the puck off a Hartford turnover and finishing it to restore the three-goal lead at 5-2.
The Numbers Behind the Win
Laval outshot Hartford 32-21. Kähkönen stopped 19 of 21 shots (.905), and Tung made 27 saves on 32 shots for the Wolf Pack. The special teams were an even trade on paper: the Rocket went 2-for-7 on the power play and Hartford went 2-for-6. Both teams took 14 penalty minutes. The difference was how Laval answered: both power-play goals and the tying goal came before the second period was over, and Dauphin had a hand in four of the five goals.
Dauphin had a four-point night (1 goal, 3 assists) and finished +2, which brought his weekend to seven points in two games. Mittelstadt had three points (1 goal, 2 assists) and five shots on goal, and Pastujov added a goal and an assist. Simoneau led all Laval skaters with four shots on goal.
Stars of the Game
Dauphin (1 goal, 3 assists), Mittelstadt (1 goal, 2 assists, 5 shots on goal), Pastujov (the game-winning goal) and Nadeau (his first professional goal).
Coach’s Take
This was a great weekend for a Rocket team that split its opening weekend and still has plenty of new faces and a new head coach. A group like that usually needs time to learn the system and build chemistry, and it did not show. Two road wins in two nights, by the same score, say a lot about where this team is.
The veterans led the way. Dauphin, Belzile and Kähkönen all stepped up, and that matters, because the young players follow the example set by the older ones. They delivered it on the ice this weekend.
Two prospects raised their game. Luke Mittelstadt finished the weekend with four points (2 goals, 2 assists), and David Reinbacher added an assist in the Hartford game. The box score is only part of the story. What stood out was their gap control and how well both moved the puck. They played with confidence and poise, and they are two players to watch closely over the next few weeks.
Special teams made a difference. The power play scored three times in 14 chances (21.4%). That is a little low, but the goals came at key moments and helped decide both games. The penalty kill was excellent, allowing only two goals in 12 opportunities (83.3%).
Where the Rocket stand. The Rocket left the weekend with two wins, a 3-1-0 record after four games and three straight victories. Read the Rocket’s 6-1 win over Syracuse and follow the Rocket stats page for the full numbers. Official box scores are on the AHL website. The team returns to the road next weekend, with a stop in Belleville on Friday night (7:00 PM ET) and in Utica on Saturday (6:00 PM ET).
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