Toronto Marlies Fall To Laval Rocket In 2nd Half Of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies fell 5-4 to the Laval Rocket in overtime on Thursday night. This was the final meeting between the two teams this regular season.

In the first period, Curtis Douglas opened the scoring for the visitors with his 13th of the season. Jean-Sébastien Dea and Louie Belpedio both scored for the Rocket before the middle frame was over, giving the home side a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

In the second period, Joey Anderson scored his 25th of the season to tie the game at two. But, it was short-lived as Gabriel Bourque restored the Rocket lead a few moments later. Before the end of the frame, Bobby McMann scored his 24th of the season, setting a new Marlies franchise record for most goals by a rookie in a single season.

In the third period, Joey Anderson scored his second of the game to give the Marlies a 4-3 lead. But Laval never let up, as Brandon Gignac tied the game just over halfway through the frame. For the second straight meeting, 60 minutes wasn’t enough and overtime was needed.

In the extra frame it was Alex Belzile on the power-play who sent the home team home with the win and the extra point. The Marlies return to action on Saturday when they close out the regular season in Belleville. Puck drop is at 3:00pm ET.

Game Notes: 

GAME SUMMARY    |    GAME SHEET |    PHOTOS    |      SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: C. Douglas (13) (C. Krys), J. Anderson (25) (P. Myers, B. Seney), B. McMann (24) PP (J. Duszak, J. Anderson), J. Anderson (26) (K. Rubīns, B. Seney)
Goaltender: M. Hutchinson (39/44) OT/L

Laval: J. Dea (26) (R. Harvey-Pinard), L. Belpedio (11) (B. Gignac, X. Ouellet), G. Borque (11) (N. Schnarr, J. Teasdale), B. Gignac (10) (X. Ouellet), A. Belzile (10) PP (J. Dea, X. Ouellet)
Goaltender: C. Primeau (30/34) OT/W

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Curtis Douglas opened the scoring unassisted at 2:16 of the first period. He has 34 goals (13 goals, 21 assists) in 66 games this season.
• Joey Anderson scored at 7:18 of the second period and at 9:15 of the third period. He also had the secondary assist on McMann’s second period goal. He has points (3-1-4) in consecutive games. This was his fifth three-point game this season.
• Bobby McMann scored on the power play at 14:56 of the second period. This was his 24^th goal of the season which sets the record for goals in a season by a Marlies rookie. He has points (2-1-3) in three consecutive games.
• Chad Krys had the lone assist on Douglas’ first period goal. He has nine points (1 goal, 8 assists) in 35 games with the Marlies.
• Phil Myers recorded the primary assist on Anderson’s second period goal. He had a career-high eight shots on goal.
• Joseph Duszak registered the primary assist on McMann’s second period goal. He is seventh overall in assists (45).
• Kristiāns Rubīns picked up the primary assist on Anderson’s third period goal. He has 11 points (1 goal, 10 assists) in 57 games this season.
• Brett Seney had the secondary assist on McMann’s second period goal. He is tied for ninth overall in assists (42).
• Michael Hutchinson stopped 39 of 44 shots he faced. He is 4-3 in overtime games this season.

OF NOTE

• Toronto is 9-4 in overtime games this season.
• The previous Marlies record for goals by a rookie in a single season was set by Josh Leivo (23) in 2013-14.
• The Marlies went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 25-8-2-0 when scoring on the power play and 20-18-3-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Laval had a 44-34 edge in shots in all situations. Phil Myers led the Marlies with eight shots on goal. Toronto is 23-20-3-1 when outshot by their opponents.
• The Marlies are 20-15-3-1 against North Division opponents and finish the regular season 3-3-1-1 against the Rocket. Laval outscored Toronto 34-30 through eight games.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:

We were mentally and physically in it the whole way through. We were really focused on trying to replicate what we did yesterday and I thought there was a real good calm confidence that we brought to our game. Early on, you could sense there was some frustration in the group and maybe things weren’t going in the direction that we wanted it to. By the second half of the game, we found that energy on the bench again that we had yesterday. The team was committed. Again, not the result we wanted but the process and everything that we’ve been building up to all season, every lesson we’ve learned, every loss we learned from throughout the year has compiled to now and the guys are in a much better place in executing at this time of year.

BOBBY McMANN (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s game:
Obviously, this one really stings. We wanted this one so bad. Every game we play though is a learning curve and we’re learning how to finish off games and unfortunately, we didn’t get the bounces or didn’t get the calls or whatever it was. We just didn’t quite finish this one off.

On his experience in the Toronto organization and breaking the Marlies rookie scoring record:

It’s been an adjustment playing a full season of pro like this. I’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of great players, all up and down the lineup, both five-on-five and power play. And then had some good coaching teaching me how to best be in the scoring areas, best get my opportunities and be able to put the puck in the back of the net. It was definitely a good experience.

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

April 30 at Belleville – 3:00 p.m.

Game Preview:

The Toronto Marlies visit the Laval Rocket for the second half of a back-to-back on Thursday night. The Marlies defeated the Rocket 5-4 in overtime on Wednesday night. Toronto is now 3-3-0-1 against the Rocket this season. This will be the final meeting between the two teams during the regular season.

After his goal in Wednesday’s game, Alex Steeves and Bobby McMann are both one goal away from breaking the Marlies rookie goal scoring record. Both are tied with Josh Leivo for the record with 23 goals.

Some players to watch in Thursday’s game are Brett Seney  and Joey Anderson. The two combined for the Marlies overtime winner in Wednesday’s game and have been a dynamic offensive duo for the Marlies all season. Anderson leads the team in goals with 24, while Seney leads the team in points with 58. On the Rocket side, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard leads the team with 54 points.

Puck drops at 7:00pm ET on AHLTV. Fans can also follow along on Twitter (@TorontoMarlies) for game updates.