The Laval Rocket made it six wins in a row on Wednesday night, beating the Syracuse Crunch 5-1 at Place Bell. Defenseman Reilly Walsh scored twice, Sasha Pastujov added the power-play goal that gave Laval the lead, and two players the Canadiens had sent down earlier in the day, Owen Beck and David Reinbacher, put the game away late. The Rocket are now 6-1-0-0.

It was also a measure of revenge. Syracuse was the team that shut Laval out 2-0 in the home opener, and the Rocket had answered with a 6-1 win over the same Crunch the following night, the first game of this streak. Our recaps of the last two wins are here: the 4-0 shutout in Utica and the overtime comeback in Belleville.

A Slow First Period and a Late Goal

The first half of the opening period was quiet. The best chance came when Nick Abruzzese beat his check and went in alone on Kaapo Kähkönen, who made the stop on a low shot along the ice. Then the game turned physical. Former Canadiens defenseman Jarred Tinordi hit Alex Belzile from behind along the boards. Belzile was shaken up, took some time to get back to the bench and did not return after the first period. The Rocket had a power play on the hit but could not score, even though their power play came into the game at 35.5%.

A few minutes later Syracuse scored. After a long stretch of six-on-five play on a delayed penalty, Sam O’Reilly deflected a shot by Brendan Furry with 35 seconds left, and the Crunch took a 1-0 lead into the intermission. They did it while being outshot 9-3 in the period. For a coach, that is a period you can live with: Laval had the puck and the chances, and only the scoreboard was against them.

How Laval Turned It Around

Tyler Thorpe and Brett Berard both had good chances early in the second, but Syracuse goalie Mads Sogaard made the saves. The break came during four-on-four play, when Walsh stepped up, took a shot and beat Sogaard at 6:43 for his fourth goal of the season. Four-on-four is the best situation for a mobile defenseman, because there is so much open ice, and Walsh used it.

Later in the period Jared Davidson dropped the gloves with Lucas Mercuri and lost the fight against a player who has three inches and 35 pounds on him. His teammates seemed to feed off it. Pastujov put Laval in front for the first time on the power play at 14:13, with a quick shot off a pass after Luke Mittelstadt blocked a clearing attempt and set him up. It was the fifth goal of the year for Pastujov, who is now tied with Walsh for the team lead.

The Third Period: Walsh, Beck and Reinbacher

Laval started the third period strong. Dillan Bentley got in alone, but Sogaard stopped him with the glove. Then Walsh made it 3-1 with a shot that deflected off a Syracuse defender in front of Sogaard. With a little more than five minutes left, Beck scored into an empty net, and Reinbacher finished the night with a goal on a breakaway. Both had been sent down by the Canadiens earlier in the day and made an immediate impact, which is exactly what the organization wants to see from depth players who are one injury away from returning. You can read the story of Reinbacher’s recall in our earlier article.

Son deuxième du match!!
His second of the game!! https://t.co/laCyqRRg6W pic.twitter.com/LPQiOA0sUY

— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) October 22, 2026

Goaltending and Mittelstadt

Kähkönen was not very busy but he was sharp. He stopped 14 of 15 shots (.933), and the only goal against was the O’Reilly deflection. He is now 4-0 in four starts. At the other end, Sogaard, who had shut out Laval earlier in the season, allowed four goals on 36 shots (.889), so the Rocket outshot Syracuse by more than two to one.

Mittelstadt had a point for the sixth game in a row and has 14 points in seven games. With Walsh and Pastujov both at five goals, the Rocket now have scoring from the blue line and the wings, and a power play that came into the game at 35.5% keeps adding to it.

Next Up: Two Games Against Hamilton

The Rocket stay home for three straight games. After Wednesday’s win they host the Hamilton Hammers on Friday at 7:00 PM ET and again on Saturday at 3:00 PM ET.

Hamilton is a new name in the AHL. The club is the farm team of the New York Islanders, and it moved from Bridgeport to Hamilton this season. For Laval, a team that has won six in a row, it is a weekend to stretch the streak against an opponent they have not seen yet. The big question is Alex Belzile, because we do not yet know whether the hit from Tinordi will keep him out of the lineup.