The Toronto Marlies took down the Belleville Senators 3-2 on Wednesday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Toronto is now fourth in the North Division with a 24-18-9-2 record.
Nick Abruzzese opened the scoring with a breakaway goal 7minutes into the first period, giving the Marlies a quick 1-0 lead. Egor Sokolov tied the game for the Senators at 6:06 in the second period and Zach Ostapchuk added a second Senators goal just over four minutes later. Roni Hirvonen scored at 15:38 in the second, tying the game at two through 20minutes of play.
Zach Solow scored just over three minutes into the finalframe, securing the win for the Marlies.
Toronto killed off all five of the Senators power plays opportunities on Wednesday morning, including a 5-on-3 late in the third period.
“The special teams were huge for us today,” head coach John Gruden said after the game. “The momentum shifts but more importantly the blocked shots. And the ability to protect the front of the net so they don't get those second opportunities and I thought we did a really good job of doing that today.”
Dennis Hildeby picked up his 14th win onWednesday, stopping 28 of 30 shots on goal and a Belleville shoot out attempt early in the third period.
“Yeah, again, I'm sure, he would have probably liked maybe the second one back, but, man, when he made that save on that penalty shot – it was huge,” Gruden said. “It gave our bench a tremendous amount of life. After he made that save, we killed that penalty off then we scored that big goal. And he shut the door. He was as good as I've seen him all season and man, we needed him to be.”
With two assists on Wednesday, Kyle Clifford has registered a point in three straight games. Clifford has posted six points over that span.
The Marlies are back in action on Friday in Utica. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Belleville: E. Sokolov (14) (J. Currie), Z. Ostapchuk (13) (Unassisted)
Goaltender: K. Mandolese (5/6), M. Sinclair (21/23) L
Toronto: N. Abruzzese (10) (L. Shaw, T. Niemelä), R. Hirvonen (2) PP (D. Gambrell, K. Clifford), Z. Solow (8) (K. Clifford, C. Gaunce)
Goaltender: D. Hildeby (28/30) W
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Nick Abruzzese opened the scoring at 7:00 of the first period. He has 35 points (10 goals, 25 assists) in 53 games this season.
- Roni Hirvonen scored on the power play at 15:38 of the second period. This was his first AHL power play goal. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 18 games this season.
- Zach Solow scored at 3:02 of the third period. This was his second game-winning goal of the season. He has 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 48 games this season.
- Logan Shaw recorded the primary assist on Abruzzese’s first period goal. He has assists (3) in consecutive games. Shaw has 40 points (20 goals, 20 assists) in 50 games this season.
- Topi Niemelä picked up the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s first period goal. He has 29 points (6 goals, 23 assists) in 51 games this season.
- Dylan Gambrell registered the primary assist on Hirvonen’s second period goal. He has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 51 games this season.
- Kyle Clifford had the secondary assist on Hirvonen’s second period goal and the primary assist on Solow’s third period goal. He has three consecutive multipoint games (2-4-6). Clifford has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 43 games this season.
- Cameron Gaunce recorded the secondary assist on Solow’s third period goal.
- Dennis Hildeby stopped 28 of 30 shots he faced. He is 14-8-6 this season with a 2.35 goals against average and 0.913 save percentage.
- Toronto is 26-16-3-1 when playing games with a start time of 11:30 a.m. or earlier.
- Dennis Hildeby faced his third penalty shot of the season at 1:29 of the third period and the second against Belleville. He has stopped two of three shots he has faced.
- The Marlies went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 16-6-5-2 when scoring on the power play and 14-7-2-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
- Belleville had a 30-29 edge in shots in all situations. Kyle Clifford led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 9-6-3-0 when outshot by their opponent.
- Toronto is 10-13-7-2 against North Division opponents and are 4-3-2-0 against the Senators this season. Kyle Clifford leads all Marlies in points (2-6-8) against Belleville through eight games.
RECORD WHEN
Scoring first 22-3-7-2
Leading after 1st 14-2-3-0
Tied after 2nd 5-3-2-1
At home 10-10-6-0
March 1-2-0-0
Wednesday 3-5-1-0
MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players
Goals 22 (K. Bellows)
Assists 28 (J. Blandisi)
Points 48 (J. Blandisi)
PPG 7 (J. Blandisi)
Shots 155 (K. Bellows)
+/- +19 (J. Blandisi)
PIMS 107 (Z. Solow)
HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN
On Dennis Hildeby’s performance:
He would have probably liked the second one back. But, man, when he made that save on that penalty shot, (it) was huge. It gave our bench a tremendous amount of life. After he made that save we killed that penalty off then we scored that big goal. And he shut the door. He was as good as I've seen him all season and man, we needed him to be.
On what the win means as they're about to go on the road:
Hopefully it brings us more momentum and we can carry it over to Friday versus Utica. We have a lot of work still to do. We're going to have to string some wins together, playing the right way if we're fortunate enough to get into the playoffs that we're ready for it. It's a big game again on Friday.
On Abruzzese and Shaw returning to the same line:
I liked their line. They've always had chemistry. Sometimes you need a little bit of break from one another. They ultimately like playing together and I really like that line with Bellows and Shaw and Abruzzese. Unfortunate we had a little too many penalties to kind of take away some of our momentum. I thought they were great the whole game. Again, hopefully they can build on that and carry it on over as well.
DENNIS HILDEBY (28 SAVES)
On the mindset to come back and defend a lead:
Boys kind of bailed me out. Had a tough second period. But, yeah, came back strong with a big goal late in the second. Just kept it clean in front of the net in the third. Nice getting a couple saves there, kind of redeem myself. It was a good third. I think we've done that in the past two, shutting down games. I know we can do it.
UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time
March 8 at Utica – 7:00 p.m.
March 9 at Springfield – 7:05 p.m.
March 15 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m.
March 16 vs. Rochester – 1:30 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
March 17 vs. Laval – 4:00 p.m.
