Toronto Marlies Defeat Laval Rocket In First Half of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Laval Rocket 4-1 on Friday night.

In the first period Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring with a power play goal just over 10 minutes in to the frame. Laval tied it up five minutes later with a power play goal of their own to make it 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.

In the second, both teams exchanged chances but the score remained the same.

In the third period, Logan Shaw scored his 20th of the season on the power play just over two minutes in to give the Marlies a 2-1 lead. Later, Joseph Blandisi added another power play goal, his 16th goal of the season, to extend the Marlies lead to two. Before the period was over, Blandisi notched his first career hat trick with an empty net goal to secure a 4-1 victory for the visitors.

Joseph Woll secured the win in his conditioning stint with the Marlies, stopping 36 of the 37 shots he faced.

The Marlies return to Place Bell on Saturday afternoon for another game against the Rocket. Puck drop is at 3:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: J. Blandisi (15) PP (W. Villenevue, L. Shaw), L. Shaw (20) PP (A. Steeves, W. Villeneuve), J. Blandisi (16) PP (N. Abruzzese), J. Blandisi (17) EN (C. Gaunce)
Goaltender: J. Woll (36/37) W

Laval: L. Andersson (14) PP (Unassisted)
Goaltender: J. Dobes (25/28) L

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring on the power play at 10:36 of the first period, scored at 12:44 on the power play in the third period and added an empty net goal in the third period. This was his first career hat trick. He is tied for ninth overall in points (17-26-43). Blandisi tied his career high in goals and points in a single season.
• Logan Shaw scored on the power play at 2:07 of the third period and earlier had the secondary assist on Blandisi’s first period power play goal. He has 36 points (20 goals, 16 assists) 45 games this season.
• William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Blandisi’s first period power play goal and the secondary assist on Shaw’s third period power play goal. He has 20 points (2 goals, 18 assists) in 37 games this season.
• Alex Steeves had the primary assist on Shaw’s third period power play goal. He has 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 42 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese registered the lone assist on Blandisi’s third period power play goal. He has 33 points (8 goals, 25 assists) in 48 games this season.
• Cameron Gaunce picked up the lone assist on Blandisi’s empty net goal in the third period. He has five assists in 23 games this season.
• Joseph Woll stopped 36 of 37 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• This was Toronto’s fourth hat trick of the season.
• The Marlies went 8-for-9 on the penalty kill and 3-for-5 on the power play. Toronto is 14-6-5-2 when on the power play and 10-8-7-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Laval had a 37-29 edge in shots in all situations. Joseph Blandisi led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 8-5-3-0 when outshot by their opponent.
• Toronto is 8-11-6-2 against North Division opponents and are 3-2-0-0 against the Rocket this season.

RECORD WHEN

Scoring first                                        20-3-6-2
Tied after 1^st                                        7-5-4-2
Tied after 2^nd                                        4-3-2-1
On the road                                        13-7-2-2
February                                              4-2-2-1
Friday                                                  7-3-1-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               20 (L. Shaw)
Assists            26 (J. Blandisi)
Points              43 (J. Blandisi)
PPG                 6 (J. Blandisi, L. Shaw)
Shots               135 (L. Shaw)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                86 (Z. Solow)

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 24 at Laval – 3:00 p.m.
February 28 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.
March 1 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
March 2 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.
Marc 6 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.

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