The Laval Rocket finished a second straight road weekend with a sweep. On Saturday night they shut out the Utica Comets 4-0, one night after a 5-4 overtime comeback in Belleville. It was Laval’s fifth win in a row, and it moved the Rocket to 5-1-0-0 with 10 points, first in the North Division and first in the AHL standings.
Kevin Mandolese stopped all 25 shots in his first game of the season, and Luke Mittelstadt added a goal and two assists to stay on top of the AHL scoring race.
Mandolese Is Perfect in His First Game of the Season
Mandolese, a Montréal native, had not played yet this season. He made his debut count: 25 saves on 25 shots for the shutout. The Comets actually outshot the Rocket 25-18, so he had to be sharp, and Utica never found a way past him.
The Comets had won their first three games and had allowed only four goals in those three games. Laval scored four by itself on Saturday. Utica goalie Jakub Málek stopped 14 of 17 shots, and the fourth goal went into an empty net.
Mittelstadt Leads the AHL in Scoring
Mittelstadt was involved in three of the four goals. He assisted on Reilly Walsh’s power-play goal at 9:17 of the first period, which turned out to be the game-winner. He scored on another power play with one second left in the second period, and he set up the empty-net goal by Xavier Simoneau late in the third.
Friday was just as big for the 23-year-old defenseman. He scored the overtime winner on the power play and assisted on two more power-play goals. That is 6 points in two games this weekend, 2 goals and 4 assists.
Through six games, Mittelstadt has 4 goals and 9 assists for 13 points, plus-4, which is 2.17 points per game. He leads the league in scoring, three points ahead of Toronto’s Logan Shaw and Laval teammate Laurent Dauphin, who are tied for second with 10. Three of Mittelstadt’s four goals have come on the power play. Dauphin added two assists on Saturday and now has 9 assists and a plus-6 rating.
Special Teams Decide It
Utica had eight power plays and scored on none of them. The Rocket killed all eight, then scored shorthanded to finish the game: Simoneau’s empty-netter at 19:27 of the third came while the Comets had their goalie pulled on a power play. At the other end, Laval went 2-for-5 on the power play, with goals from Walsh and Mittelstadt.
Josh Nadeau scored the only even-strength goal at 5:37 of the second period, assisted by Dillan Bentley, to make it 2-0. Mandolese, Mittelstadt and Filip Mešár were named the three stars.
Over the weekend the Rocket were 5-for-10 on the power play and killed 10 of 11 penalties. For the season, Laval is now 11-for-30 on the power play (36.7 percent) and has killed 84.8 percent of its penalties.
A Second Straight Weekend Sweep
After losing the home opener 2-0 to Syracuse, the Rocket have won five straight: 6-1 over the Crunch, 5-2 at Springfield, 5-2 at Hartford, 5-4 in overtime at Belleville and 4-0 at Utica. They have outscored their opponents 25-9 in that stretch, and they are 4-0 on the road.
The last two weekends have been perfect. In the first sweep, Laval won twice by 5-2 scores. This weekend the Rocket came back from a 4-0 deficit on Friday and posted a shutout on Saturday. In those four weekend games the Rocket outscored their opponents 19-8.
What Comes Next
Laval returns to Place Bell for three straight home games. The Syracuse Crunch visit on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. ET, then the Hamilton Hammers come to town on Friday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m. You can follow the whole season on the Rocket schedule and the Rocket stats page.
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