Marlies Return From All-Star Break With Overtime Loss To Charlotte Checkers

The Toronto Marlies fell to the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 in overtime on Friday night in the first half of a back-to-back. Toronto falls to 30-12-2-1 for the season.

In the first, Toronto opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Dryden Hunt at 9:45 to give the visitors the early lead. Toronto would carry the one goal lead into the second.

In the middle frame, both teams exchanged chances, but the goalies stood tall to keep the game at 1-0 heading into the third.  

Just 1:29 in the third, Grigori Denisenko scored to tie the game at one a piece.  Shortly after, Bobby McMann earned his 11th of the season at 5:49 to regain the lead and make it 2-1. Later, Logan Shaw added another for Toronto at 7:58 to earn his 100th career AHL goal and make it 3-1. Before the period was over, Charlotte added two more goals by Zac Dalpe at 15:14 and Aleksi Heponiemi at 18:40 to tie the game at three. However, 60 minutes would not be enough, and overtime was needed.  

In the extra frame, John Ludvig scored the overtime winner at 1:29 to make it 4-3 and secure the win for Charlotte.  

The Marlies return to action on February 11th when they play the Charlotte Checkers in the second half of a back-to-back. Puck drop is at 6:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: D. Hunt (2) PP (W. Villeneuve, A. Gaudette), B. McMann (11) PP (N. Abruzzese, L. Shaw), L. Shaw (17) (Z. O’Brien, M. Abramov)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (42/46) OT/L

Charlotte: C. Sjalin (3) (J. Sourdif, G. Mayhew), Z. Dalpe (12) (J. Sourdif, S. Kinnunen), A. Heponiemi (9) PP (L. Carlsson, Z. Dalpe), G. Denisenko (9) (G. Mayhew, M. Kiersted)
Goaltender: A. Lyon (30/33) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Dryden Hunt opened the scoring on the power play 9:45 of the first period. He has points (2-1-3) in three consecutive games.
• Bobby McMann scored on the power play at 5:49 of the third period. He has goals (3) in consecutive games. McMann has 18 points (11 goals, 7 assists) in 20 games with the Marlies.
• Logan Shaw scored at 7:58 of the third period and earlier had the secondary assist on McMann’s third period goal. This was his 100^thcareer AHL goal.
• William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Hunt’s first period goal. This was his eighth power play assist of the season.
• Adam Gaudette had the secondary assist on Hunt’s first period goal. He has 31 points (19 goals, 12 assists) in 37 games with the Marlies this season.
• Nick Abruzzese registered the primary assist on McMann’s third period goal. He has 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 46 games this season.
• Zach O’Brien picked up the primary assist on Shaw’s third period goal. He has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in three games with the Marlies.
• Mikhail Abramov had the secondary assist on Shaw’s third period goal.
• Erik Källgren stopped 42 of 46 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill and 2-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 23-5-2-1 when scoring on the power play and 15-4-2-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Charlotte had a 46-33 edge in shots in all situations. Bobby McMann led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 14-5-2-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 2-0-1-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and 0-0-1-0 against the Charlotte Checkers.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game and Erik Källgren’s performance:
He gave us a chance to be in this game. From the start, we weren’t skating. We weren’t protecting our crease and our net front very well. They got inside us pretty easily. Even up ice, we weren’t above, we weren’t in the way. They’re a very skilled team. They’re really good in transition. We’re going to need a much better effort for tomorrow. As of late, we’ve been giving up too much. We’re inconsistent right now with our play and we need to make sure that tomorrow we have a better mindset for our expectations and standards going into the rest of the season.

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BOBBY McMANN (1 GOAL)

On Erik Källgren:
He was everything for us at the start. They definitely came hot and we weren’t quite ready for it. He shut the door for a long time and gave us a chance for awhile. It’s too bad we couldn’t help him out.

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On tonight’s game:
We had a couple of shifts strung together (in the final 20 minutes) where we got pucks in. Just played a simple game and that’s what it takes after a break like that, it’s just playing simple hockey, moving pucks forward and we found success. We had a chance to close out the game but just weren’t able to do it.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 11 at Charlotte – 6:00 p.m.
February 13 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
February 15 vs. Utica – 11:00 a.m.
February 17 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m.
February 18 vs. Rochester – 4:00 p.m.