Toronto Marlies Open Weekend With Win Against Laval Rocket

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Laval Rocket 3-2 on Saturday evening. Toronto improves to 24-9-0-1 against North Division opponents and [insert stat] when playing at home.  

Late in the first, Graham Slaggert opened the scoring with a goal at 15:56 to give Toronto the early 1-0 lead.  

In the second, Laval responded with a goal by William Trudeau at 8:04 to tie the game at one apiece. Shortly after, Bobby McMann continued his hot streak with a power-play goal at 10:18 to regain the lead for Toronto. With this goal, McMann set a career-high in power-play goals with nine through 27 games.  

In the final frame, Laval tied the game at two with a goal by Mitchell Stephens at 12:10. Shortly after, Max Ellis added another for Toronto at 15:04 to regain the lead and make it 3-2. Ellis’ 7th of the season would stand as the game winner. 

Erik Källgren stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced.  

The Marlies return to action on February 26th when they host the Syracuse Crunch. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.  

GAME SUMMARY    |    GAME SHEET  |      PHOTOS   |      SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Laval: W. Trudeau (3) (A. Rihard, N. Beaudin), M. Stephens (9) (J. Teasdale)
Goaltender: C. Primeau (46/49) L

Toronto: G. Slaggert (6) (M. Johnstone, Z. Solow), B. McMann (18) PP (N. Abruzzese, A. Steeves), M. Ellis (7) (D. Hunt)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (19/21) W

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Graham Slaggert opened the scoring at 15:56 of the first period. He has eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) in 43 games this season.
• Bobby McMann scored on the power play at 10:18 of the second period. He has goals (7) in five consecutive games. McMann set a career-high in power play goals (9) through 27 games with the Marlies.
• Max Ellis scored the game-winning goal at 15:04 of the third period. He has five points (4 goals, 1 assist) through his last five games.
• Marc Johnstone recorded the primary assist on Slaggert’s first period goal. He has 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) in 49 games this season.
• Zach Solow had the secondary assist on Slaggert’s first period goal. He has assists in (2) in consecutive games. He has 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 41 games with Newfoundland (ECHL).
• Nick Abruzzese registered the primary assist on McMann’s second period goal. He has 38 points (15 goals, 23 assists) in 52 games with the Marlies.
• Alex Steeves picked up the secondary assist on McMann’s second period goal. Steeves has 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 49 games this season.
• Dryden Hunt had the lone assist on Ellis’ third period goal. He has seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) in 13 games with the Marlies.
• Erik Källgren stopped 19 of 21 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• Erik Källgren stopped the penalty shot awarded to Laval at 9:58 of the first period. This was the second penalty shot Källgren has faced this season, both stopped.
• The Marlies went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 27-7-2-1 when scoring on the power play and 17-5-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 49-21 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 17-7-0-0 when outshooting their opponent. This is the most shots recorded in a game by the Marlies this season.
• The Marlies are 24-9-0-1 against North Division opponents and 6-1-0-0 against the Laval Rocket. Toronto has outscored Laval 30-23 through seven games.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On today’s game:
Pretty good. In talking before the game, we had a plan and I thought our team did a really good job in the first period of spending more time in their end and just being above and defending really well. Second period maybe got away from us a little bit. Some extended shifts, some poor line changes or just puck management things. It was a good response in the third period. I was really happy as well that in the third, this is the first time in a while that while holding a lead, we’ve outshot our opponent. We’re usually under fire and we’re holding on, they have a big push and we get outshot, something we’ve been talking about and I’m glad to see our team do that today.

On Max Ellis:

He’s another person on our team that continues to climb the ladder. When there is more opportunity to be given to him, he’s taken it and proving that he deserves it. I also think in talking with him throughout the season that he’s been wanting to get a lot better at his defensive play and his responsibility on the ice, so us coaches can trust him to get more ice time, and along with that, because he’s defending better, he’s getting in better spots to create offence.

ALEX STEEVES (1 ASSIST, 6 SHOTS)

On today’s game:
It was great. We’ve had a few games against them this year where they’ve outshot us, and it was a focus of ours going in to have a shot mentality, and obviously we put up a ton of shots tonight, so we were happy with that. Especially, it’s hard to play with a lead in this league, usually the team that’s behind is chasing the game and getting lots of shots, but we outshot them in the third period which I think just speaks to how confident we are with a lead, sticking to our game plan despite what might happen. Overall, we should be really pleased.

On the goal from Slaggert and the play with his linemates Johnstone and Solow:
All three of them playing the right way, being hard. My favourite part of the play was Zach Solow digging at the net, digging at the goalie to get that puck loose. Obviously, a great play by Stoner and a nice finish and then seeing Solow celebrate even though he wasn’t the one who scored, like I think just the energy that the three of them brought, that stuff is contagious and really happy for those three.

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 26 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.
March 1 vs. Rockford – 11:00 a.m.
March 3 at Hershey – 7:00 p.m.
March 4 at Lehigh Valley – 7:05 p.m.
March 8 at WB/Scranton – 7:05 p.m.

Pre Game:

The Toronto Marlies host the Laval Rocket on Saturday afternoon in a divisional matchup. This will be the seventh of eight matchups between the two clubs this season. Toronto is currently 23-9-0-1 against North Division opponents and 6-2-1-0 for the month of February.  

The two teams last met on February 4th in the second half of a back-to-back where the Marlies lost 7-3. Toronto has won five of the previous six matchups.  

Toronto heads into Saturday’s game with a 3-1 win over the Utica Comets on Monday, while Laval is coming off a high-scoring 8-4 loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday. Currently Toronto sits atop the North division in first place with a 35-13-2-1 record, while Laval is in fifth with 21-21-7-2 record on the season.  

Players to look out for on the Marlies side include Bobby McMann who has six goals in four consecutive games, and Alex Steeves who has 41 points (17G, 24A) in 48 games this season. On the Rocket side, Anthony Richard leads the way with 50 points (23G,27A).  

Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.