November 30, 2019

Comets Edge Marlies 4-3

Game Recap:

The Marlies suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday in a close 4-3 decision to the Utica Comets.

Tanner MacMaster opened the scoring for the Marlies for the second time in as many games at 11:50 of the first period, extending his point streak (4-4-8) to eight games. Pontus Aberg and Egor Korshkov assisted on the goal. The Comets made their way onto the scoresheet at 16:14, capitalizing on a power play opportunity to even the score 1-1. The Marlies responded with a power play goal from Kenny Agostino at 18:22 to restore a one-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

The Comets converted on the power play again at 9:49 of the second period to knot things up 2-2. The score remained tied through 40 minutes of play.

Utica took their first lead of the game at 4:10 of the third period, but the Marlies answered back with a power play goal at 8:47 to even things back up at 3-3. Reid Boucher scored the go-ahead goal for the Comets at 15:41 of the third period, and the Marlies were unable to battle back to force overtime.

The Marlies will have a chance to respond against the Comets as they close out this 3-in-3 tomorrow at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drops at 4:00 PM.

Game Notes:

GAME SUMMARY | GAME SHEET | PHOTOS | SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Utica: S. Baertschi (4) PP (K. Lind, R. Boucher), J. Bailey (5) PP (S. Baertschi, B. Rafferty), K. Lind (4) (C. Camper, A. Roussel), R. Boucher (15) (G. Brisebois, B. Rafferty)
Goaltender: M. DiPietro (22/25)

Toronto: T. MacMaster (6) (P. Aberg, E. Korshkov), K. Agostino (11) PP (J. Bracco, R. Sandin), D. Archibald (5) PP (T. Liljegren, N. Baptiste)
Goaltender: J. Woll (20/24)

ON THE SCORESHEET

Tanner MacMaster opened the scoring for the Marlies for the second consecutive game at 11:50 of the first period. MacMaster has picked up a point (4-4-8) in each of his last eight games.
Kenny Agostino scored Toronto’s second goal at 18:22 of the first period on the power play. Agostino has 11 points (7 goals, 4 assists) in eight games.
Darren Archibald scored Toronto’s third goal at 8:43 of the third period. Archibald has three goals in his last four games.
Pontus Aberg recorded the primary assist on MacMaster’s first period goal. Aberg has points (3-8-11) through eight games.
Egor Korshkov registered the secondary assist on MacMaster’s first period goal. Korshkov has 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) through 20 games.
Jeremy Bracco collected the primary assist on Agostino’s first period goal. This is Bracco’s sixth power play assist and 14^th of the season.
Rasmus Sandin picked up the secondary assist on Agostino’s first period goal. Sandin has 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) through 12 games this season.
Timothy Liljegren recorded the primary assist on Archibald’s third period power play goal. Liljegren has 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) in 17 games this season.
Nick Baptiste registered the secondary assist on Archibald’s third period power play goal.
Joseph Woll stopped 20 of 24 shots he faced. Woll is now 4-2-1-1 on the season with a 0.895 Save Percentage and a 3.21 Goals Against Average.

OF NOTE…

This was Toronto’s first loss at home of the season (9-1-0-0).
Assistant coaches Rob Davison and A.J. MacLean assumed duties behind the bench for today’s game against Utica. Toronto is 4-1-0-0 under Davison and MacLean.
Toronto was 1-for-3 on the penalty kill and was 2-for-6 on the power play.
Toronto had a 25-24 edge in shots in all situations. Pontus Aberg and Adam Brooks led the Marlies with four shots on goal.
The Marlies are 6-1-2-1 against North Division opponents and are 0-1-0-0 against the Utica Comets.

REGULAR SEASON LEADERS

Goals: K. Agostino (11)
Assists: J. Bracco (14)
Points: P. Aberg (23)
PPG: E. Korshkov (4)
Shots: P. Aberg (66)
+/-: P. Aberg (+12)
PIMS: G. Wilson (43)

RECORD WHEN…

Toronto is 10-3-1-1 when scoring first.
Toronto is 14-13-1 at Scotiabank Arena.
The Marlies are 6-2-1-1 when leading after the first period and 3-2-0-1 when tied after the second period.
Toronto is 6-1-1-0 when outshooting their opponent.
The Marlies are 6-1-1-1 in Saturday games and are 8-3-0-1 in November.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

Pontus Aberg has points (2-5-7) in four consecutive games.
Kenny Agostino has points (3-3-6) in four consecutive games.
Darren Archibald has points (3-1-4) four consecutive games.
Egor Korshkov has assists (2) in consecutive games.
Tanner MacMaster has points (4-4-8) in eight consecutive games.

MARLIES UPDATES.

Kevin Gravel (illness) did not dress for tonight’s game against Rochester.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

November 29: Loaned defenceman Martin Marincin from Toronto (NHL).

POSTGAME QUOTES

ASSISTANT COACH A.J. MacLEAN

On Toronto’s goaltending tandem (Kaskisuo and Woll):
It’s been terrific. No matter who’s in the net they’ve been sharp and ready to play. They’ve always given us a chance to win games. Woll did tonight. He did a great job. We just weren’t sharp enough in front of him to get the win for him.

On Kenny Agostino:
I’d say it’s what we expected of Kenny. He’s an AHL veteran. He’s led the league in scoring before. We know he’s a producer and I think in the room he’s been a great voice. He’s a smart guy, very personable. He helps the young guys and everyone alike get along and he brings people together.

NEXT GAME:

December 1 vs Utica – 4:00 p.m. ET
December 4 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m. ET
December 7 vs San Antonio – 4:00 p.m. ET
December 8 vs San Antonio – 4:00 p.m. ET
December 11 at Utica – 7:00 p.m. ET

Game Preview:

Toronto hosts the Utica Comets in an early 1:30 PM start today, kicking off a Hockey Fights Cancer doubleheader at Scotiabank Arena. The Toronto Maple Leafs continue the fight tonight, hosting the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 PM for their Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night.

The Marlies extended their win-streak to seven straight last night, coming from behind to defeat the Rochester Americans in overtime. They’ll be looking to keep a nine-game home win streak alive today as they face the Comets for the first time this season. The Marlies are 10-4-1-0 in the past five years when taking on the Comets at home and are 6-0-2-1 against North Division opponents so far this season.

Utica (12-7-1-0) comes into today’s game riding a two-game win streak after defeating Laval and Syracuse in their previous two games. The Comets currently sit in fourth place in the North Division standings and seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Puck drops at 1:30 PM on Leafs Nation Network. Fans across Canada can also stream the game live in the Official Maple Leafs App.

Proceeds from today’s 50/50 draw and tonight’s player jersey auction go to support Camp Trillium. Fans can text LEAFSHFC2019 to the number on screen (647-360-5543) tonight during the Maple Leafs game to bid on lavender warmup jerseys worn by players from both the Maple Leafs and your Toronto Marlies.

Head to Head (2019-20 Regular Season)


14-2-2-1	Overall Record	12-7-1-0
0-0-0-0	Head To Head	0-0-0-0
7-0-0-0	Streak	2-0-0-0
72	Goals For	70
50	Goals Against	53
21.9%	Power Play Percentage	20.8%
80%	Penalty Kill Percentage	87.2%
K. Agostino (10) P. Aberg (10)	Leading Goal Scorer	R. Boucher (14)
P. Aberg (22)	Leading Points Scorer	R. Boucher (21)
K. Kaskisuo (7)	Wins Leader	M. DiPietro (6) Z. MacIntyre (6)