Toronto Marlies Fall To Belleville Senators In Final Game Of 2023

The Toronto Marlies fell to the Belleville Senators 3-2 in overtime on Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Toronto is now fourth in the North Division with a 13-10-4-1 record.

The Marlies opened the scoring with a goal from Joseph Blandisi four minutes into the first period. Zach Solow added a second goal eight minutes later, giving Toronto a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.

Roby Jarventie scored Belleville’s first goal of the game1:29 into the third period, cutting the Marlies lead to one. Egor Sokolov tied the game for the Senators just under 11 minutes later. Neither team was able to break the tie in regulation, forcing the game into overtime.

Cole Reinhart scored the game winner for the Senators 4:20 into the extra frame.

After the game, captain Logan Shaw detailed what went wrong for the Marlies in the third period.

 "Couple breakdowns. We've just gotten away from our game a little bit,” Shaw said. “The first periods I thought we played well, we managed the puck, which I think is kind of the biggest thing that happened in the third - we weren't getting it behind their goal line. And it cost us. We've gotta try to work ourselves out of this.”

Head Coach John Gruden echoed his captain’s assessment when asked about his message to the team afterBelleville’s first goal.

"Well, we just gotta remind them what works,” Gruden said. “We were simple. We were putting it deep. Then we played on our heels. You can't win games that way. We have to still make sure that we're doing the things that got us that lead. We didn't do it. We just didn't get it done.”

 The Marlies will be back in action Wednesday against the Cleveland Monsters at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app or on AHLTV.  

SCORING SUMMARY

Belleville:  R. Jarventie (8) PP (Unassisted), E. Sokolov (7) (T. Kleven, N. Matinpalo), C. Reinhardt (3) (E. Sokolov, T. Kleven)Goaltender: K. Mandolese (33/35) W

Toronto: J. Blandisi (8) PP (L. Shaw, N. Abruzzese), Z. Solow (4) (M. Rifai, R. Mastrosimone)Goaltender: D. Hildeby (29/32) OT/L

ON THE SCORESHEET

Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring on the power play at 4:02 of the first period. This was his 250th career AHL point. He has 23 points (8 goals, 15 assists) in 27 games this season.Zach Solow scored at 12:16 of the first period. He has nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in 23 games this season.Logan Shaw had the primary assist on Blandisi’s first period goal. He has 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 25 games this season. Nick Abruzzese recorded the secondary assist on Blandisi’s first period goal. He has 23 points (5 goals, 18 assists) in 28 games this season.Marshall Rifai registered the primary assist on Solow’s first period goal. This was his seventh assist through 21 games with the Marlies this season.Robert Mastrosimone picked up the secondary assist on Solow’s first period goal. He has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 18 games this season.Dennis Hildeby stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced.TEAM NOTES

The Marlies went 1-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 6-2-3-1 when scoring on the power play and 7-5-4-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.Toronto had a 35-32 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 8-7-3-1 when outshooting their opponent.The Marlies are 3-6-4-1 against North Division opponents and are 1-2-2-0 against the Senators.RECORD WHEN

Scoring first                                        12-2-4-1Leading after 1st                                  11-1-2-0Leading after 2nd                                  9-1-3-0At home                                              7-5-3-0December                                            5-5-1-0Saturday                                              4-2-2-0

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               11 (K. Bellows, A. Steeves)Assists            18 (N. Abruzzese)
Points              25 (A. Steeves)PPG                 3 (D. Ovchinnikov)Shots               80 (L. Shaw)+/-                    +15 (J. Blandisi)PIMS                53 (K. Clifford)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game: We’ve just got to remind them what works. We were simple. We were putting it deep. (Then) we played on our heels. You can't win games that way. We have to still make sure that we're doing the things that got us that lead. We didn't do it. We just didn't get it done.

LOGAN SHAW (1 ASSIST)

On takeaways from the recent stretch of losses:It's hard to say. I mean, we can't be doing what we're doing right now. Lose five, win five, lose five. It's not going to work in this league. We’ve got to find a way to be more consistent. Yeah, we got a point tonight but I still don't think it was a great performance for us just because we let it slip away. Good teams find a way to win those games. Right now, that's where it's up to us to make sure we turn this around. When we're up two-nothing going into the third you put your work boots on, you do the little things right. Just keep sticking to it, blocking shots, good sticks, getting the puck behind their D, wear them out. We didn't do that tonight and it cost us.

UPCOMING GAMES: *All times Eastern Standard Time

January 3 vs. Cleveland – 4:00 p.m.January 6 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.January 7 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.January 12 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.January 14 at Belleville – 2:00 p.m.