The Toronto Marlies split a weekend series with the Utica Comets, falling 5-1 to the Comets on Sunday evening.
Max Willman opened the scoring for the Comets 5:15 into the first period. Xavier Parent scored at 10:53 in the opening frame to make it 2-0. Justin Dowling and Ryan Fitzgerald added goals at 3:51 and 16:51 in the second period, extending the Comets lead to 4-0.
Joseph Blandisi scored at 6:16 in the third to cut the score to 4-1, but Nathan Légaré added an empty net goal at 16:45 to wrap up the game.
“Well, they did what we did to them yesterday,” head coach John Gruden said after the game. “They came out ready, they were hungry, they threw some pucks on net. They're there to capitalize. We couldn't regroup.”
“The only time that we started togo a little bit was in the third period. By then it's too late,” Gruden continued. “We've played a lot of meaningful games. Our guys have played a lot of hockey. We just gotta now take our rest and work on some things and be ready for Wednesday.”
Wednesday will feature another divisional matchup against the Belleville Senators. Dylan Gambrell said the team will be prepared.
“We'll be ready,” Gambrell said. “Couple good days of practice. We know what's at stake; we talk about it every day.It's a tight race there. We'll be ready.”
The Marlies will play the Belleville Senators on Wednesday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs App, AHLTV, and NHL Network.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Utica: M. Willman (12) (J. Dowling), X. Parent (13) (K. Criscuolo, R. Schmelzer), J. Dowling (12) PP (R. Schmelzer, T. Vilen), R. Fitzgerald (1) (F. Engaras, D. Wendt), N. Legare (8) EN (R. Russo)
Goaltender: N. Daws (29/30) W
Toronto: J. Blandisi (25) (D. Gambrell)
Goaltender: L. Cavallin (14/18) L
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Joseph Blandisi put the Marlies on the board at 6:16 of the third period. He has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games. Blandisi has 56 points (25 goals, 31 assists) in 65 games this season.
- Dylan Gambrell had the lone assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 64 games.
- Luke Cavallin stopped 14 of 18 shots he faced.
- The Marlies went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill and 0-for-6 on the power play. Toronto is 10-15-4-0 when not scoring on the power play and 13-13-7-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
- Toronto had a 30-19 edge in shots in all situations. Joseph Blandisi led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 16-16-6-2 when outshooting their opponent.
- Toronto is 15-16-7-2 against North Division opponents and finish their regular season series 4-1-0-1 against the Comets.
RECORD WHEN
Not scoring first 4-17-2-0
Trailing after 1st 3-13-1-0
Trailing after 2nd 3-18-4-1
At home 15-12-6-0
April 2-1-0-0
Sunday 6-4-3-0
MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players
Goals 28 (L. Shaw)
Assists 34 (N. Abruzzese)
Points 56 (J. Blandisi)
PPG 7 (J. Blandisi, L. Shaw)
Shots 182 (L. Shaw)
+/- +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS 128 (Z. Solow)
HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN
On the first two periods:
Well, they did what we did to them yesterday. They came out ready, they were hungry, they threw some pucks on net. They're there to capitalize. We couldn't regroup. The only time that we started to go a little bit was in the third period. By then it's too late. We've played a lot of meaningful games. Our guys have played a lot of hockey. We’ve just got to now take our rest and work on some things and be ready for Wednesday.
UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time
April 10 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
April 12 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
April 13 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
April 17 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m.
April 20 vs. Cleveland – 4:00 p.m.
