Toronto Marlies Fall To Manitoba Moose

The Toronto Marlies fell 4-3 to the Manitoba Moose on Friday afternoon. The two teams split the regular season series, taking two games each.

In the first period, Zach Solow got the visitors on the board first with a power play goal at 13:08. At 18:28, Parker Ford scored for the Moose, making it 1-1. But, before the period was over, Logan Shaw scored with 53 seconds remaining to give Toronto a 2-1 lead.

In the second, Max Lajoie scored 34 seconds in to the frame to make it 3-1. Manitoba responded with a goal from Henri Nikkanen just 28 seconds later. Kyle Capobianco tied the game at 13:39 with a power play goal.

In the final frame, Carson Golder scored just 2:46 in to the period, with a goal that would stand as the game winner.

Toronto returns home to face the Springfield Thunderbirds in their final School Day Game of the year on Wednesday morning. Puck drop is at 11:00am on the Toronto Maple Leafs App and AHLTV.

‍

SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: Z. Solow (10) PP (J. Blandisi, T. Niemelä), L. Shaw (26) (M. Kokkonen, T. Singleton), M. Lajoie (3) (N. Abruzzese, M. Kokkonen)
Goaltender: D. Hildeby (24/28) L

Manitoba: P. Ford (15) (D. Barteaux, K. Reichel), H. Nikkanen (6) (A. Jonsson-Fjallby, D. Barteux), K. Capobianco (10) PP (P. Ford, N. Chibrikov), C. Golder (1) (D. Torgersson, S. Lundmark)
Goaltender: T. Milic (23/26) W

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Zach Solow opened the scoring on the power play at 13:08 of the first period. He has 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 58 games this season.
• Logan Shaw scored at 19:07 of the first period. He has points (2-1-3) in consecutive games. Shaw has 52 points (26 goals, 26 assists) in 60 games.
• Max Lajoie scored 34 seconds into the second period. He has 21 points (3 goals, 18 assists) in 43 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi had the primary assist on Solow’s first period power play goal. He has 53 points (23 goals, 30 assists) in 62 games this season.
• Topi Niemelä recorded the secondary assist on Solow’s first period goal. He has points (1-4-5) in four consecutive games. Niemelä has 35 points (7 goals, 28 assists) in 60 games.
• Mikko Kokkonen picked up the primary assist on Shaw’s first period goal and the secondary assist on Lajoie’s second period goal. He has 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) in 57 games this season.
• Tate Singleton registered the secondary assist on Shaw’s first period goal. He has one goal and three assists in six games with the Marlies this season.
• Nick Abruzzese had the primary assist on Lajoie’s second period goal. He has 45 points (14 goals, 31 assists) in 63 games.
• Dennis Hildeby stopped 24 of 28 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 20-7-5-2 when scoring on the power play and 12-12-7-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto’s road power play (21.9) is first overall amongst Eastern Conference teams and fifth in the AHL. Toronto has recorded 28 power play goals in 32 games.
• Manitoba had a 28-26 edge in shots in all situations. Joseph Blandisi, Max Lajoie and Logan Shaw led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 14-7-3-0 when outshot by their opponent.
• Toronto is 7-3-0-0 against Central Division opponents and finish their regular season series 2-2-0-0 against the Moose.

RECORD WHEN

Scoring first                                        27-6-7-2
Leading after 1^st                                  18-3-3-0
Tied after 2^nd                                        7-4-2-1          
On the road                                        17-11-3-2
March                                                  7-6-0-0
Friday                                                  9-6-1-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               26 (K. Bellows, L. Shaw)
Assists            31 (N. Abruzzese)        
Points              52 (J. Blandisi)
PPG                 7 (J. Blandisi)
Shots               181 (K. Bellows)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                126 (K. Clifford)

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:

Manitoba played hard for both games, I thought. They made it hard on us, their high pressure. I thought we did a much better job bringing pucks out today, creating much more space for ourselves, getting into open ice. They made it difficult on us. We had an opportunity there to be up another couple of goals but credit to them, we just didn’t have enough at the end of the day.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

April 3 vs. Springfield – 11:00 a.m.
April 6 vs. Utica – 4:00 p.m.
April 7 vs. Utica – 4:00 p.m.
April 10 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
April 12 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.

‍