Toronto Marlies Continue Road Trip With Loss To Utica Comets

The Toronto Marlies fell 5-0 to the Utica Comets on Friday night. Toronto falls to 21-10-9-4 when playing on the road and 41-22-4-2 on the season.  

in the opening period, it was the home team who struck first. Jeremy Groleau scored at 18:10 in the frame to give the Comets the late 1-0 lead heading into the second.  

In the second, the goals kept coming for Utica. Early in the period, Nolan Stevens added another at 4:53 to extend their lead to two. Later, Reilly Walsh scored at 17:01 to make it 3-0 for the home team. Before the period was over, Graeme Clarke scored at 19:14 to make it 4-0 after 40 minutes of play.  

In the final frame, Utica added another with a goal by Nolan Stevens at 13:51 to make it 5-0 and secure the win for the Comets.  

The Marlies return to action on April 12th when they visit the Laval Rocket on the road. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: No goals
Goaltender: D. Hildeby (37/42) L

Utica: J. Groleau (2) (T. Ibragimov, G. Clarke), N. Stevens (13) (T. Wotherspoon, S. Nemec), R. Walsh (8) PP (G. Clarke, N. Foote), G. Clarke (24) (R. Schmelzer, Z. Hayes), N. Stevens (14) (S. Nemec)
Goaltender: N. Daws (20/20) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Dennis Hildeby stopped 37 of 42 shots he faced in his AHL debut.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and received no power plays. Toronto is 12-14-1-0 when not scoring on the power play and 21-15-2-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Utica had a 42-20 edge in shots in all situations. Matteo Pietroniro and Logan Shaw led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 19-13-3-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 26-12-1-1 against North Division opponents and finish the regular season 5-1-0-0 against the Comets.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:
This was a really disappointing game for us. We need to find the desperation. We have some guys showing up wanting to play right now this time of year. I understand that we’ve clinched first place and the points may not be as desperate for us as they are for everyone else in our division right now but we’ve still got to be playing the game in the right way and as a team that wants to come together and play hard for one another and right now, there’s too many guys that aren’t showing up and willing to step in and do the role that’s needed right now.

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On Dennis Hildeby’s AHL debut:

It was certainly a test. We knew it was going to be a tough game in a tough environment. I thought he early stood up to the challenge and did really well. For the whole game really we didn’t do him any favours by the chances that we gave up and the shots that we game up. Specifically in the first period, he made some big saves and kept some momentum for us to keep us going. He should feel proud about his first effort.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

April 12 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
April 15 vs. Belleville – 4:00 p.m.
April 16 vs. Belleville – 4:00 p.m.