The Toronto Marlies fell 4-3 in overtime to the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday night. Toronto is now 9-11-7-2 against North Division opponents this season.
In the first period, Dylan Gambrell scored at 14:00 to give the Marlies a 1-0 lead. Brendan Gaunce scored with 14 seconds remaining in the period to tie the game at one.
In the second, Cameron Butler scored for the Monsters to give them a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes of play.
In the third period, Brendan Gaunce scored his 2nd of the game, but Joseph Blandisi and Kieffer Bellows both scored to force overtime.
In overtime, Trey Fix-Wolansky scored to give the Monsters the victory.
The Marlies return to action on Friday when they visit the Syracuse Crunch. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: D. Gambrell (10) (R. Tverberg, M. Rifai), J. Blandisi (19) (Z. Solow, J. Tychonick), K. Bellows (22) (A. Steeves, W. Villeneuve)
Goaltender: D. Hildeby (25/29) OT/L
Cleveland: B. Gaunce (14) (Unassisted), C. Butler (2) (O. Sillinger, S. Knazko), B. Gaunce (15) (C. Meyer, M. Bjork), T. Fix-Wolansky (20) (B. Gaunce)
Goaltender: J. Greaves (43/46) W
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Dylan Gambrell opened the scoring at 14:00 of the first period. He has 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 48 games this season.
- Joseph Blandisi scored at 10:26 of the third period. He has points (6-2-7) in five of his last six games. He is tied for seventh overall in points (19-27-46).
- Kieffer Bellows scored at 18:42 of the third period. He has points (4-2-6) in five of his last six games. Bellows has 38 points (22 goals, 16 assists) in 33 games this season.
- Ryan Tverberg recorded the primary assist on Gambrell’s first period goal. He has 28 points (8 goals, 20 assists) in 35 games this season.
- Marshall Rifai had the secondary assist on Gambrell’s first period goal. He has 12 points (2 goals, 10 assists) in 36 games this season.
- Zach Solow registered the primary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in 45 games this season.
- Jonny Tychonick picked up the secondary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. This was his first career AHL game. He has 41 points (6 goals, 35 assists) in 45 games with the Newfoundland Growlers (ECHL).
- Alex Steeves recorded the primary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 42 games this season.
- William Villeneuve had the secondary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 22 points (2 goals, 20 assists) in 39 games this season.
- Dennis Hildeby stopped 25 of 29 shots he faced.
TEAM NOTES
- The Marlies went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 8-10-4-0 when not scoring on the power play and 13-7-2-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill. Toronto’s penalty kill on the road is second overall (87.0) in the AHL, allowing six goals in their last 10 games.
- Toronto had a 46-29 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows led the Marlies with seven shots on goal. Toronto is 15-11-6-2 when outshooting their opponent.
- Toronto is 9-11-7-2 against North Division opponents and are 0-3-2-1 against the Monsters this season. Five out of six games in the series have been one-goal games.
RECORD WHEN
Scoring first 21-3-7-2
Tied after 1st 8-5-5-2
Trailing after 2nd 2-12-4-1
On the road 14-7-3-2
February 5-2-3-1
Wednesday 2-5-1-0
MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players
Goals 22 (K. Bellows)
Assists 27 (J. Blandisi)
Points 46 (J. Blandisi)
PPG 7 (J. Blandisi)
Shots 145 (K. Bellows)
+/- +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS 93 (Z. Solow)
HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN
On tonight’s game:
We played extremely well. A lot of good things. Just those mistakes that we make at those crucial times are allowing them to get results. We kind of shoot ourselves in the foot. The good thing is that we were able to get a point out of it and kill a big penalty but again, we fell short in the three-on-three. It’s been a norm for us and I didn’t think we gave them anything up until that goal but it is what it is. We just have to find a way to be better in those situations.
On the team’s recent performance:
I like the way we’re playing. We’re getting contributions from all lines. They’re all doing their jobs and playing extremely well on both sides, playing a 200-foot game and that’s a good sign. We’re doing a lot of good things on the road, getting points and we’ve got to focus on the positives.
JOSEPH BLANDISI (1 GOAL)
On tonight’s game:
It’s gone pretty similar every game against these guys. We deserved more points and a better fate but we haven’t been able to find it so, we’ve got to dig deep and look at the little things and see what we can clean up.
UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time
March 1 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
March 2 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.
March 6 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
March 8 at Utica – 7:00 p.m.
March 9 at Springfield – 7:05 p.m.
