The Laval Rocket made it seven wins in a row on Friday night, beating the Hamilton Hammers 4-2 at Place Bell. It was not a pretty game, with 22 penalty minutes on each side and a third period that Hamilton pushed, but the Rocket found the goals when they needed them: two in the second period, a power-play goal early in the third from Sasha Pastujov, and an empty-netter to close it out. Laval is 7-1-0-0, one win short of the franchise record for consecutive victories, and a win Saturday afternoon against the same Hammers would tie it.

A Scoreless First Period Full of Penalties

The first period ended 0-0 even though Hamilton took four minors in the first 18 minutes (hooking, holding, hooking and hooking again). The Rocket power play could not turn any of them into a goal, and Hunter McKown sat for holding the stick at 2:35 as well. Kevin Mandolese kept the game level at the other end.

McKown and Mešár Build the 2-0 Lead

Laval took control early in the second. At 5:47, McKown scored his second goal of the season, with Brett Berard and Josh Nadeau on the assists, at even strength. Then at 11:09, Filip Mešár made it 2-0 with his third goal of the year, set up by Reilly Walsh and Maksymilian Szuber, again at five-on-five. At that point the Rocket were in control.

Two Goals in 73 Seconds Tie It

That lead did not last. Hamilton scored twice in 73 seconds late in the second period. Matt Luff made it 2-1 at 15:59, with Cameron Berg and Calle Odelius getting the assists, and Quinn Finley tied it at 17:12, assisted by Liam Foudy. The Rocket let a two-goal lead disappear in barely more than a minute, and the penalties had started to pile up and Hamilton had the momentum. Dillan Bentley then took a holding penalty with 31 seconds left in the period, so Laval had to start the third period killing a penalty.

Pastujov Scores the Winner on the Power Play

The penalty kill did the job, and then the Rocket got their own chance. Foudy was called for interference at 5:06 of the third period, and 14 seconds later Pastujov scored his sixth goal of the season on the power play to make it 3-2 at 5:20. Mittelstadt and Walsh had the assists. It was the only power-play goal of the night for either team: Laval finished 1-for-6 with the man advantage, and Hamilton went 0-for-6. That means the Rocket penalty kill stopped all six Hammers chances, and in a one-goal game that mattered.

Hamilton pushed hard in the third period and pulled goalie Vítek Vaněček with about two minutes to go. The Rocket held, and at 18:26 McKown found Berard for the empty-net goal that sealed it. Berard finished with a goal and an assist, a plus-2 and five shots on goal, and McKown ended with a goal and an assist, also a plus-2.

Goaltending and the Numbers

Mandolese stopped 20 of 22 shots (.909) in his second start of the season and is still undefeated. Vaněček stopped 20 of 23 (.870) for Hamilton. The Rocket outshot the Hammers 24-22, and that total includes the empty-net shot.

Team stats	Laval Rocket	Hamilton Hammers
Final score	4	2
Shots on goal	24	22
Power play	1 for 6	0 for 6
Penalty minutes	22	22
Goalie	Mandolese 20 saves on 22	Vaněček 20 saves on 23

Mittelstadt and Walsh Lead the League

Mittelstadt picked up an assist and now has 15 points in 8 games (4 goals, 11 assists), the most in the AHL and two more than the next player. Walsh had two assists and is up to 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in 8 games, third in the league. You can follow every number on the Rocket stats page.

Next: Saturday Afternoon, Same Opponent

The Rocket and Hammers play again Saturday at 3:00 PM ET at Place Bell. Hamilton, the new AHL franchise of the New York Islanders, is 1-6-1 and last in the North Division. A win gets Laval to eight straight and ties the franchise record. Our earlier recaps cover the streak so far: Walsh’s Double Lifts Rocket Past Crunch and Rocket Blank Comets for the Fifth Straight Win. The full Rocket schedule is on the site.

Sources: AHL game center, RDS.