The Toronto Marlies fell 8-4 to the Rochester Americans on Wednesday night in Game Three of the North Division Finals. With this win, Rochester takes the best-of-five series 3-0.
In the first period, Toronto opened the scoring with a goal by Pontus Holmberg at 0:17 to take the early lead. Shortly after, Rochester responded with a goal by Ethan Prow at 3:05 to tie the game at one. Later, Kohen Olischefski added another for the Amerks at 6:33 to take the 2-1 lead. Lukas Rousek extended their lead to two at 9:57 to make it 3-1 after 20 minutes.
In the second, Rochester continued to press. Jiri Kulich scored at 6:50 in the frame to give the Amerks the 4-1 lead. Shortly after, Pontus Holmberg earned his second of the night with a power-play goal at 9:09 to keep the Marlies within two. Later, Rochester responded with a goal by Isak Rosen at 13:27 to regain their three-goal lead. Before the period was over, Pontus Holmberg scored his third of the night at 19:01 to earn the hattrick and make it 5-3.
In the final frame, Isak Rosen added another for the Amerks at 9:45 to make it 6-3. Later, Toronto responded with a goal by Topi Niemelä at 13:41 to keep the Marlies within two. However, Rochester continued to press and added two more goals by Brett Murray and Matt Bartkowski to take the 8-4 lead and win the series.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: P. Holmberg (4) (K. Clifford), P. Holmberg (5) PP (M. Ellis, K. Clifford), P. Holmberg (6) (L. Shaw), T. Niemelä (2) (P. Holmberg, J. Benn)
Goaltender: J. Woll (28/35) L
Rochester: E. Prow (1) (L. Rousek, B. Warren), K. Olischefski (2) (B. Warren, Z. Metsa), L. Rousek (2) PP (M. Jobst, J. Kulich), J. Kulich (6) (L. Rousek), I. Rosen (3) PP (L. Pilut, J. Davies), B. Murray (3) PP (E. Prow, J. Kulich), M. Bartowski (1) EN (L. Rousek, S. Malone)
Goaltender: M. Subban (34/38) W
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Pontus Holmberg opened the scoring 17 seconds into the first period, scored on the power play at 9:09 of the second period and at 19:01 of the second period. This was his first career AHL hat trick. He also had the primary assist on Niemelä’s third period goal. He had eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) in seven games.
- Topi Niemelä scored at 13:41 of the third period. He had five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in seven games.
- Kyle Clifford had the lone assist on Holmberg’s first period goal and the secondary assist on Holmberg’s power play goal in the second period. He had eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in seven games.
- Max Ellis recorded the primary assist on Holmberg’s power play goal in the second period goal. He had three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in five games.
- Logan Shaw picked up the lone assist on Holmberg’s second period goal. He has four goals and six assists through seven playoff games and is tied for sixth overall in points (10) in the league.
- Jordie Benn registered the secondary assist on Niemelä’s third period goal. He had two assists through seven games.
- Joseph Woll stopped 28 of 35 shots he faced.
TEAM NOTES
- Pontus Holmberg’s first period goal tied Toronto’s record for the fastest goal to open a playoff game (0:17).
- Holmberg’s hat trick was Toronto’s eighth in their playoff history. Toronto’s last hat trick on the road was recorded by Greg Scott on May 8, 2012 against Abbotsford
- The Marlies went 0-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play.
- Toronto had a 38-36 edge in shots in all situations. Logan Shaw led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 3-4 when outshooting their opponent.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH GREG MOORE
On the end of the season:
It certainly stings. We believe wholeheartedly that we had a group that could make a long playoff push. To be knocked out in this round, it stings a lot. You can tell the guys in there are hurting right now and a lot of that is because you don’t want such a good thing to come to an end and how much fun the group has playing together and really proud of their resiliency in this game and how they kept fighting back and not giving up. It was a tough game. Credit to Rochester, they played really well and they have a very talented team and they made it hard on us.
LOGAN SHAW (1 ASSIST)
On the end of the season:
Obviously, it’s not where we want to be. I’m proud of these guys for what we did all year, the adversity that we faced all year. Even tonight, there was no quit. The character that we have in that room, it really showed not just this series, not just the last series but the whole way and obviously we wanted a better outcome, maybe do things different, maybe not. It’s just the way things go. The opponent always has a say in the outcome. I’m very proud of our group right now.
