The Toronto Marlies fell 4-2 to the Crunch on Saturday evening atCoca-Cola Coliseum in the 2nd half of a back-to-back.
Gage Goncalves opened the scoring a minute into the first period. Gabriel Fortier added a second crunch goal 8:27 into the first. KyleClifford scored two minutes later, pulling the Marlies within one through 20 minutes of play.
Gabriel Dumont scored 24 seconds into the third period.Joseph Blandisi scored 15 minutes later, pulling the Marlies within one goal, but Cole Koepke added an empty net goal for the Crunch four minutes later.
Blandisi’s third period goal was his sixth in his last five games and extended a streak of five games with at least a point. Blandisi has eight points over those five games.
“Yeah, I think confidence. I'm not saying he wasn't confident last year, but he's much more confident this year,” Logan Shaw said about Blandisi. “Nice to see him having success. But it's just nice to see him making plays with the puck. 20 goals this year for him now, that's a big milestone. I'm very proud of him. I think he works extremely hard, and he deserves the year he's having right now.”
Head coach John Gruden said the team will take time to reset before Wednesday’s game against the Senators.
“We don't have much time to feel sorry for ourselves,” Gruden said. “We have to watch video. Give these guys something to get a chance to beat Belleville. We've had some success against them lately. We should be ready for that one. We should be excited for it.”
The Marlies are back in action on Wednesday at Coca-Cola Coliseum when they host the Belleville Senators. Puck drop is at 11:00am on the Toronto Maple Leafs App and AHLTV.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Syracuse: G. Goncalves (8) (J. Finley, A. Barre-Boulet), G. Fortier (7) PP (J. Carroll, S. Day), G. Dumont (14) (W. Merela, P. Myers), C. Koepke (14) EN (W. Merela)
Goaltender: M. Tomkins (22/24) W
Toronto: K. Clifford (10) (L. Shaw), J. Blandisi (20) (L. Shaw, K. Clifford)
Goaltender: L. Cavallin (16/19) L
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Kyle Clifford put the Marlies on the board at 10:31 of the first period and later added the secondary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has points (2-2-4) in consecutive games. Clifford has 24 points (10 goals, 14 assists) in 42 games this season.
- Joseph Blandisi scored at 15:01 of the third period. This is the first Blandisi has recorded 20 goals in one season in his professional career. He has points (6-2-8) in five consecutive games. Blandisi is sixth overall in points (20-28-48).
- Logan Shaw had the lone assist on Clifford’s first period goal and the primary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has 39 points (20 goals, 19 assists) in 49 games this season.
- Luke Cavallin stopped 16 of 19 shots he faced.
- The Marlies went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 9-11-4-0 when not scoring on the power play and 11-9-7-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
- Toronto had a 24-20 edge in shots in all situations. Joseph Blandisi and Grant Cruikshank led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 15-12-6-2 when outshooting their opponent.
- Toronto is 9-13-7-2 against North Division opponents and are 0-5-1-0 against the Crunch this season.
RECORD WHEN
Not scoring first 2-15-2-0
Trailing after 1st 2-10-1-0
Trailing after 2nd 2-14-4-1
At home 9-10-6-0
February 5-4-3-1
Saturday 7-5-3-1
MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players
Goals 22 (K. Bellows)
Assists 28 (J. Blandisi)
Points 48 (J. Blandisi)
PPG 7 (J. Blandisi)
Shots 152 (K. Bellows)
+/- +18 (J. Blandisi, T. Miller)
PIMS 103 (Z. Solow)
LOGAN SHAW (2 ASSISTS)
On what has led to Joseph Blandisi’s performance this season:
I think confidence. I'm not saying he wasn't confident last year, but he's much more confident this year. Nice to see him having success. It's just nice to see him making plays with the puck. 20 goals this year for him now, that's a big milestone. I'm very proud of him. I think he works extremely hard and he deserves the year he's having right now.
On what it will take to win close games:
It's just going to take the drive within our dressing room. Nothing to do with our structure or our game plan. Just about pushing through and making sure that you want to be in the fight. Play that playoff hockey which will pay off at the end. For us it's just about focussing, taking the day off tomorrow to focus on this week. We've got some big games coming up.
UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time
March 6 vs. Belleville – 11:00 a.m.
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.
