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BEL 1 - TOR 6

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Belleville: X. Bourgault (12) (P. Daoust)
Goaltender: H. Shepard (15/20) L, J. Parsons (5/6)

Toronto: R. Johnson (5) (M. Johnstone, M. Pezzetta), J. Quillan (6) (A. Nylander, B. Valis), J. Quillan (7) PP (V. Lettieri, L. Shaw), N. Chadwick (2)(A. Nylander, J. Quillan), M. Johnstone (7) SH (H. Thrun, R. Johnson), J. Quillan (8) PP (N. Chadwick, W. Villeneuve)
Goaltender: A. Akhtyamov (19/20) W

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Reese Johnson opened the scoring at 19:26 of the first period and later added the secondary assist on Johnstone’s second period shorthanded goal. He has set a career-high in goals scored (5) in a single season. Johnson has 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in 25 games this season
• Jacob Quillan recorded his first professional hat trick, scoring goals one minute apart in the second period and his third goal at 1:04 into the third period. He also added the secondary assist on Chadwick’s goal. He set a career-high in points recorded in a single game. Quillan has 27 points (8goals, 19 assists) in 27 games with the Marlies this season.
• Noah Chadwick scored at 13:21 of the second period and later added the primary assist on Quillan’s third goal of the game. He has eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 35 games this season.
• Marc Johnstone scored shorthanded at 16:33 of the second period and earlier recorded the primary assist on Johnson’s first period goal. He has points (3-2-5) in four consecutive games. Johnstone has 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in 22 games this season.
• Michael Pezzetta had the secondary assist on Johnson’s first period goal. He has seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in 24 games with the Marlies this season.
• Alex Nylander registered the primary assists on Quillan’s first goal and Chadwick’s goal, both in the second period. This was his seventh multi-point game of the season. He has 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 31 games this season.
• Borya Valis picked up the secondary assist on Quillan’s first goal of the second period. He has 13 points (7 goals, 6 assists) in 34 games this season.
• Vinni Lettieri recorded the primary assist on Quillan’s power play goal in the second period. He has 23 points (5 goals, 18 assists) in 31 games this season.
• Logan Shaw had the secondary assist on Quillan’s power play goal in the second period. This was his 45^th power play assist with the Marlies, tying him with Kris Newbury for fourth most in franchise history.
• Henry Thrun registered the primary assist on Johnstone’s second period shorthanded goal. He has 13 points (3 goals, 10 assists) in 25 games this season.
• William Villeneuve recorded the secondary assist on Quillan’s third goal of the game. This was his 34^th power play assist which tied him with Joseph Duszak for all-time power play assists by a defenceman.
• Artur Akhtyamov stopped 19 of 20 shots he faced. He is 13-6-1 this season with a 2.88 goals against average and a 0.901 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES

• Jacob Quillan’s hat trick tonight was Toronto’s first hat trick since Alex Nylander recorded three goals against Bakersfield on Dec. 14, 2024.
• Marc Johnstone recorded Toronto’s third shorthanded goal of the season.
• The Marlies were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 2-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 8-3-0-1 when scoring on the power play and 11-4-0-0 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto outshot Belleville 26-20 in all situations. Jacob Quillan led the Marlies with four shots on net. Toronto is 8-6-1-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 13-6-0-2 against North Division opponents and 5-3-0-1 against the Senators this season.
• Toronto is now on their annual Boat Show Road Trip and will return to Coca-Cola Coliseum on January 31.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On tonight’s game:
We knew it was going to be a tough game from the get go. Our guys are pretty dialed and pretty focused and do things right. We were disciplined. We had good changes. We did what’s necessary to give us the right start, to give us the chance to play a complete game and I thought we got better as it went on. I thought our first period – every minute, every shift, it kept getting better and better and it was contagious throughout the group. Everyone contributed and it was a good game for us.

On Jacob Quillan:
Good for him to get rewarded. He continues to grow and get better as a player. He’s a great teammate. He plays the right way, he plays fast. He’s not afraid to get inside … Obviously he came back (from the Maple Leafs) with some confidence and it showed. All four lines were great but it’s a pretty special night for him to get four points.

CLE 5 - TOR 4 (SO)

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Cleveland: J. Pearson (5) SH (Unassisted), J. Malatesta (3) (C. Ceulemans, L. Del Bel Belluz), R. Ahcan (8) (L. Pinelli), O. Sillinger (3) PP (L. Pinelli, W. Butcher)
Goaltender: A. Kolosov (28/32) W

Toronto: B. Groulx (16) (V. Lettieri, L. Shaw), R. Tverberg (4) (L. Haymes, T. Boyd), T. Boyd (10) (L. Haymes, R. Tverberg), M. Pezzetta (2) (M. Johnstone, R. Johnson)
Goaltender: A. Akhtyamov (29/33) SO/L

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Bo Groulx opened the scoring at 1:18 of the first period. He is tied for sixth overall in goals scored (16). Groulx has 26 points (16 goals, 10 assists) in 34 games this season.
• Ryan Tverberg scored at 2:01 of the first period. He has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in 29 games this season.
• Travis Boyd scored at 18:45 of the second period and earlier picked up the secondary assist on Tverberg’s first period goal. This was his sixth multi-point game of the season. He has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 27 games this season.
• Michael Pezzetta scored at 13:42 of the third period. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 23 games with the Marlies this season.
• Vinni Lettieri recorded the primary assist on Groulx’s first period goal.
• Logan Shaw had the secondary assist on Groulx’s first period goal.
• Luke Haymes registered the primary assists on Tverberg’s first period goal and Boyd’s second period goal. He has 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in 32 games this season and this was his third multi-point game of the season.
• Marc Johnstone recorded the primary assist on Pezzetta’s third period goal. He has points (2-1-3) in three consecutive games. Johnstone has 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists) in 21 games this season.
• Reese Johnson had the secondary assist on Pezzetta’s third period goal.
• Artur Akhtyamov stopped 29 of 33 shots he faced. He is 12-6-1 this season with a 2.98 goals against average and a 0.899 save percentage.

IN THE SHOOTOUT

• ·       Luke Haymes – No goal (2025-26: 2/3)
• ·       Bo Groulx – No goal (2025-26: 0/3)
• ·       Borya Valis – No goal (2025-26: 0/3)
• ·       Vinni Lettieri – No goal (2025-26: 0/2)
• ·       Logan Shaw – No goal (2025-26: 0/4)

TEAM NOTES

• Toronto is 2-2 in the shootout this season.
• The Marlies were 0-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 11-10-1-1 when not scoring on the power play and 8-10-1-2 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Cleveland outshot Toronto 34-32 in all situations. Bo Groulx, Alex Nylander, Cédric Paré and Marshall Rifai led the Marlies with three shots on net. Toronto is 11-8-0-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 12-6-0-2 against North Division opponents and 2-0-0-1 against the Monsters this season.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On tonight’s game:
I thought it was one of the best starts we’ve had all year. Sometimes when you have so much success, you think it’s going to be easy and nothing’s easy in this league, shouldn’t be easy. They had a little bit of push and then we just got away from what got us success, not winning the lines and even some momentum but then we did push back and we got some good play. The momentum really went their way with that shorthanded goal. We got it back on the rails. I thought there were some good things. We didn’t really give them much but when they got something, I still think we had some breakdowns that we just mentally can’t have those. Our guys worked hard. It was good to get a point.

MICHAEL PEZZETTA (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s game:
I think we obviously came out to a great start. That’s something we’ve been talking about and it was definitely good we came out with the two goal lead but then I think we got a little complacent with that, a little on our backfoot trying to be a little too cute I think and they got back in the game and it was a dogfight from there.

LV 6 - TOR 1

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Lehigh Valley: C. Marody (4) (P. Tomasino), O. Bonk (1) SH (L. Pederson), K. Dorwart (5) (L. Pederson, T. Robertson), A. Gendron (6) (Unassisted), L. Pederson (12) (Unassisted), G. Wilson (3) (O. Bonk, O. Eklind)
Goaltender: A. Kolosov (29/30) W

Toronto: M. Johnstone (6) (M. Pezzetta)
Goaltender: V. Peksa (17/23) L

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Marc Johnstone scored at 3:53 of the third period. He has 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in 20 games this season.
• Michael Pezzetta had the lone assist on Johnstone’s first period goal.
• Vyacheslav Peksa stopped 17 of 23 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies were 1-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 11-10-1-0 when not scoring on the power play and 10-4-0-0 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto outshot Lehigh Valley 30-23 in all situations. William Villeneuve led the Marlies with six shots on net. Toronto is 6-6-1-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 3-4-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and finish their regular season series 0-2-0-0against the Phantoms this season.