The Toronto Marlies fell 6-2 to the Belleville Senators on Sunday afternoon.
In the first period, the home team opened the scoring 9 minutes in with a goal from Egor Sokolov. The Senators added two more goals before the period was over, one on a penalty shot, and one on the power play to take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission.
In the second, the Marlies responded quickly. Kieffer Bellows scored his 15th of the season just 1:16 into the middle frame. Just 19 seconds later, Grant Cruikshank tallied his first AHL goal to bring the Marlies within one.
In the third period, the Senators scored three more goals to take a 6-2 victory.
The Marlies return to action on January 20th when they visit the Charlotte Checkers. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on AHLTV.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: K. Bellows (15) (J. Blandisi), G. Cruikshank (1) (A. Steeves, T. Niemelä)Goaltender: D. Hildeby (8/11) L, K. Petruzzelli (13/16)
Belleville: E. Sokolov (11) (N. Matinpalo, G. McPhee), K. Betts (1) PS (Unassisted), J. Currie (6) PP (J. Larsson, E. Sokolov), J. Smejkal (4) (E. Sokolov, T. Kleven), J. Larsson (4) (B. Saulnier), J. Smejkal (5) PP (T. Boucher, M. Guenette)Goaltender: L. Merilainen (27/29) W
ON THE SCORESHEET
Kieffer Bellows put the Marlies on the board at 1:16 of the second period. He has points (4-3-7) in four consecutive games. He has 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists) in 26 games this season.Grant Cruikshank scored at 1:25 of the second period. This was his first career AHL goal.Joseph Blandisi had the lone assist on Bellows’ second period goal. He has 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) in 32 games this season.Alex Steeves recorded the primary assist on Cruikshank’s second period goal. He has 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 28 games this season.Topi Niemelä picked up the secondary assist on Cruikshank’s second period goal. He has 21 points (6 goals, 15 assists) in 31 games this season, leading all Marlies defencemen.Dennis Hildeby stopped 8 of 11 shots he faced in 13:00 of action. Keith Petruzzelli stopped 13 of 16 shots he faced in relief.TEAM NOTES
The Marlies went 4-for-6 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 7-9-1-0 when not scoring on the power play and 7-7-5-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.Toronto had a 29-27 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows led the Marlies with seven shots on goal. Toronto is 9-10-4-1 when outshooting their opponent.The Marlies are 4-9-5-1 against North Division opponents and are 2-3-2-0 against the Senators with three games remaining in the regular season. Toronto and Belleville have each scored 22 goals each through seven games.Toronto has started their annual Boat Show Road Trip and is 0-1-0-0. The club will face six different clubs in seven games and return to Coca-Cola Coliseum on Feb. 9.RECORD WHEN
Not scoring first 1-9-1-0Trailing after 1st 1-6-1-0Trailing after 2nd 2-9-1-0On the road 6-6-1-1January 1-3-1-0Sunday 4-2-2-0
MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players
Goals 15 (K. Bellows)Assists 18 (N. Abruzzese)
Points 28 (A. Steeves)PPG 3 (N. Abruzzese, D. Gambrell, D. Ovchinnikov, R. Tverberg)Shots 95 (L. Shaw)+/- +17 (J. Blandisi)PIMS 74 (K. Clifford)
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN
On today’s game:We knew the team was going to come out hard and they scored three quick goals. We had a couple of lapses on our defence, a couple of breakdowns and next thing you know, they’re up two-nothing and then three-nothing. We tried to claw our way back but it just wasn’t good enough. We at least gave the game an effort, we at least came back from it but it just wasn’t good enough bottom line.
UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time
January 20 at Charlotte – 4:00 p.m.January 21 at Charlotte – 1:00 p.m.January 24 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.January 27 at Lehigh Valley – 7:05 p.m.January 28 at Hershey – 5:00 p.m.
