Toronto Marlies Top Rocket In First Of Two Straight In Laval

The Toronto Marlies topped the Laval Rocket 5-4 in overtime on Wednesday night. The Marlies are now 3-3-0-1 against the Rocket this season.

In the first period, it was the home side who struck first. Louie Belpedio scored his 10th of the season, before Rafaël Harvey-Pinard followed up with one of his own. Alex Steeves added his 23rd of the season before the frame was over cutting the Rocket lead in half.

In the second, the Marlies came on scoring three goals in the frame. Marc Michaelis, Mikhail Abramov and Joseph Blandisi all found the back of the Rocket net. Xavier Ouellet managed to add another for the home side before the period was over, giving the Marlies a 4-3 lead after 40 minutes.

But, the Rocket tied the game early in the third period thanks to another goal from Harvey-Pinard. The two teams remained tied at four after 60 minutes so overtime was needed. In the extra frame, it was Joey Anderson who scored his 24th of the season to give the visitors a huge road victory.

The two teams meet again on Thursday night for the second half of a back-to-back in Laval. Puck drop is at 7:00pm ET.

Game Notes: 

GAME SUMMARY    |    GAME SHEET |    PHOTOS    |      SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: A. Steeves (23) (M. Michaelis), M. Michaelis (5) (J. Blandisi, T. Kivihalme), M. Abramov (7) (B. McMann, M. Hollowell), J. Blandisi (12) PP (P. Holmberg, M. Abramov), J. Anderson (24) (B. Seney)
Goaltender: M. Hutchinson (23/27) OT/W

Laval: L. Belpedio (26) PP (Unassisted), R. Harvey-Pinard (20) (J. Dea, A. Belzile), X. Ouellet (8) PP (R. Harvey-Pinard, J. Teasdale), R. Harvey-Pinard (21) (A. Belzile, J. Dea)
Goaltender: K. Poulin (17/22) OT/L

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Alex Steeves put the Marlies on the board at 15:00 of the first period. This was his 23^rd goal of the season which matches a franchise record for number of goals in a season by a rookie.
• Marc Michaelis scored at 1:37 of the second period and earlier picked up the lone assist on Steeves’ first period goal. He has points (1-3-4) in consecutive games. Michaelis has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in 20 games this season.
• Mikhail Abramov scored at 10:03 of the second period and later had the secondary assist on Blandisi’s power play goal. He has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games. He has 28 points (7 goals, 21 assists) in 66 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi scored on the power play at 15:09 of the second period and earlier recorded the primary assist on Michaelis’ second period goal. He has eight multipoint games this season.
• Joey Anderson scored the game-winning goal at 3:03 of overtime. This is his second overtime goal of the season.
• Teemu Kivihalme had the secondary assist on Myers’ second period goal. He has assists (2) in consecutive games. Kivihalme has six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in 30 games this season.
• Bobby McMann registered the primary assist on Abramov’s second period goal. He has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games. He has 34 points (23 goals, 11 assists) in 59 games this season.
• Pontus Holmberg recorded the primary assist on Blandisi’s second period goal. He has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games.
• Brett Seney had the lone assist on Anderson’s overtime goal. He is tied for ninth overall in assists (41).
• Michael Hutchinson stopped 23 of 27 shots he faced. He is 4-2 in overtime games this season.

OF NOTE

• Toronto is 9-3 in overtime games this season.
• The Marlies went 1-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 25-8-1-0 when scoring on the power play and 19-11-1-0 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Laval had a 27-22 edge in shots in all situations. Mikhail Abramov, Joey Anderson and Alex Steeves led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 23-20-2-1 when outshot by their opponents.
• The Marlies are 20-15-2-1 against North Division opponents and are 3-3-0-1 against the Rocket. Laval has outscored Toronto 29-26 through seven games.

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On Marc Michaelis’ performance:

It took him awhile to come back form his injury and when he came back in, the love that he his teammates had for him, just as a person but now with the things that he does all over the rink offensively, defensively and in all situations, he just works so hard. Really manages the game well, really smart with where things are at, what the score, where the clock’s at, what needs to be done in the moment.

On what he takes from this game into tomorrow’s game against Laval:

Just building on our calm confidence that we have to always find our way back in. We know we didn’t lead by any stretch of the means for the majority of the game but we were confident in ourselves that if we just stuck to playing the way we need to play, we’d find our way through it.

JOSEPH BLANDISI (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On how he would characterize this win:

I think character is a pretty good way to describe it. It took all 20 guys tonight. Lots of guys were banging, blocking shots, taking hits to make plays. We just found a way tonight and we weren’t giving up.

On the first period:

We definitely weren’t happy. We got into a little bit in the dressing room between periods. We weren’t happy with our efforts in the first 20 and we knew we were going to have to come with a better 40 if we were going to get two points tonight.

MARC MICHAELIS (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On what needs to be done to win games in the remainder of the season:

Just eliminating mistakes. We’re a high-skilled team that plays fast but most of the games, we create our opponent’s offence and now it’s that time of the year, it’s deadly, it can end your season. We’re doing progress. We’re not there yet. We’ve really got to pay attention to it moving forward.

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

April 28 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
April 30 at Belleville – 3:00 p.m.

Game Preview:

The Toronto Marlies visit the Laval Rocket on Wednesday night for the first of two straight in Quebec. The Marlies are 2-3-0-1 against Laval so far this season. The two teams last met on Friday, April 22nd in Laval when the Marlies won 5-1.

The Marlies are coming off of a 4-3 loss to Belleville on Sunday. The Marlies are currently sitting in the fifth and final playoff spot in the North Division, but need to win to solidify their position. The Rocket have lost three straight games, including a 5-1 loss to Syracuse in their most recent game on Saturday, but have already punched their ticket into the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Some players to watch on the Marlies side include Brett Seney and Bobby McMann. Seney leads the team in points with 57 so far this season, and Bobby McMann is currently tied for the team lead in goals with 23. McMann is one goal away from breaking the Marlies rookie goal scoring record. On the Rocket side, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard leads the team in points with 51.

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