Toronto Marlies Close Out Weekend With Loss To Lehigh Valley

The Toronto Marlies fell 4-3 to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday night in their final matchup of the regular season. Toronto falls to 19-8-2-0 when playing on the road.  

Early in the second, Lehigh Valley opened the scoring with a goal by Elliot Desnoyers at 5:09 to take the 1-0 lead. Shortly after, Artem Anisimov added another for Lehigh Valley with a goal at 6:46 to extend their lead to two. Later, Toronto responded with a power-play goal by Pontus Holmberg at 9:48 to keep within one.  

In the final frame, Garrett Wilson scored at 6:15 to make it 3-1. Later, Toronto responded with a power-play goal by Noel Hoefenmayer at 16:41 to keep Toronto within one. Before the period was over, Lehigh Valley responded with a goal by Olle Lycksell at 19:06 to make it 4-2. Just 34 seconds later, Filip Král scored at 19:40 to make a late push for Toronto, but it was not enough.  

The Marlies return to action on March 8th when they visit the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Puck drop is at 7:05pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: P. Holmberg (5) PP (N. Abruzzese, A. Steeves), N. Hoefenmayer (11) PP (N. Abruzzese, A. Steeves), F. Kràl (2) (K. Clifford)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (23/27) L

Lehigh Valley: E. Desnoyers (20) (K. Connauton, G. Wilson), A. Anisimov (16) (R. Attard, T. Foerster), G. Wilson (11) PP (O. Lycksell, A. Anisimov), O. Lycksell (10) EN (Unassisted)
Goaltender: S. Ersson (17/20) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Pontus Holmberg put the Marlies on the board at 9:48 of the second period on the power play. He has goals (3) in three consecutive games. Holmberg has 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) in 22 games this season.
• Noel Hoefenmayer scored on the power play at 16:41 of the third period. This was his 12 power play point (2 goals, 10 assists) this season.
• Filip Král scored at 19:40 of the third period. He has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 16 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese recorded the primary assists on Holmberg’s second period goal and Hoefenmayer’s third period goal. He has 41 points (15 goals, 26 assists) in 56 games this season. He is fourth overall in assists (26) amongst rookies.
• Alex Steeves had the secondary assists on Holmberg’s second period goal and Hoefenmayer’s third period goal. He has 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in 53 games with the Marlies.
• Kyle Clifford picked up the lone assist on Král’s third period goal.
• Erik Källgren stopped 23 of 27 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• Toronto has only recorded consecutive losses three times this season.
• The Marlies went 2-for-3 on the penalty kill and 2-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 27-8-2-1 when scoring on the power play and 20-11-2-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Lehigh Valley had a 27-20 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 16-9-2-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 3-2-1-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and finish their regular season series 1-1-0-0 against the Phantoms.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On the start tonight:
I do think we found our game earlier than we did yesterday part way through the second. The power play goal was big for us. It was a good job by them to find momentum, execute the plan that was in front of them and find that goal to get the ball rolling but was just looking for more emotion and more passion to start.

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NOEL HOEFENMAYER (1 GOAL)

On the pushback in the third period:

It just shows a lot about the character of our team. No matter what the score is, the game’s never over and we’re always going to fight until the very end. That was good out of us today to show that no matter what we did we never quit.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

March 8 at WB/Scranton – 7:05 p.m.
March 11 vs. Hartford – 5:00 p.m.
March 12 at Rochester – 3:05 p.m.
March 17 vs. Charlotte – 1:30 p.m.
March 18 vs. Charlotte – 4:00 p.m.