Toronto Marlies Fall To Cleveland Monsters In First Half Of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies fell 4-3 to the Cleveland Monsters on Saturday afternoon at Coca-ColaColiseum.

Justin Pearson scored the Monsters first goal at 14:59 in the second period. Pearson added his second goal of the game at 4:46 in the second. Tyler Angle scored the Monsters’ third goal at 13:10 in the second period.

Kieffer Bellows scored the Marlies’ first goal just over a minute into the third period. Zach Solow added a second Toronto goal 15 minutes later, cutting theMonsters lead to one. Justin Pearson scored his third of the game 40 seconds later, restoring Cleveland’s two-goal lead. Alex Steeves added a third Marlies goal with just under two minutes remaining in regulation.

Head CoachJohn Gruden said the team played well, but they couldn’t convert on their chances.

“I thought we played pretty well, we just couldn't score,”Gruden said after the game. “The score was different, but I didn't think that we played that bad.”

Toronto outshot Cleveland 14-4 in the third period and 42-24in total.

“The difference was we were probably a little bit more desperate,” Gruden said about the team’s third period pushback. “Started putting more pucks to the net. They started to go in. We were a little bit more hungrier on their net. But other than that, we didn't really give them all that much. Unfortunately, we lost the game. That's what it's all about at this time of year. 

 Mikko Kokkonen added that the team’s third period pushback proved that they’re ready for the postseason.

“I think that last period showed us we were ready,” Kokkonen said. “Now we just have to play hard tomorrow, get ready on Monday.”

The Marlies will wrap up their regular season schedule on Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Monsters at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app or on AHLTV.

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SCORING SUMMARY
Cleveland: J. Pearson (8) (D. Jiricek, J. Dunne), J. Pearson (9) (A. Whelan), T. Angle (8) (O. Sillinger, R. Ahcan), J. Pearson (10) (J. Christiansen, M. Pyythia)
Goaltender: J. Greaves (39/42) W

Toronto: K. Bellows (27) (L. Shaw, N. Abruzzese), Z. Solow (11) (K. Clifford, J. Quillan), A. Steeves (27) (M. Lajoie, K. Bellows)
Goaltender: M. Murray (20/24) L

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Kieffer Bellows put the Marlies on the board at 1:08 of the third period and added the secondary assist on Steeves’ third period goal. He has 49 points (27 goals, 22 assists) in 52 games this season.
• Zach Solow scored at 15:38 of the third period. He has 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 65 games this season.
• Alex Steeves scored at 18:01 of the third period. He led all Marlies in shots (7). He has 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 65 games this season.
• Logan Shaw had the primary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 58 points (30 goals, 28 assists) in 68 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese recorded the secondary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. This was his 100^th career AHL point.
• Kyle Clifford picked up the primary assist on Solow’s third period goal.
• Jake Quillan registered the secondary assist on Solow’s third period goal. This was his first professional point.
• Max Lajoie recorded the primary assist on Steeves’ third period goal. He has 23 points (4 goals, 19 assists) in 50 games this season.
• Matt Murray stopped 20 of 24 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 11-16-5-0 when not scoring on the power play and 20-11-2-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 42-24 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with seven shots on goal. Toronto is 18-18-6-2 when outshooting their opponent.
• Toronto is 17-18-8-2 against North Division opponents and 0-4-2-1 against the Monsters.

RECORD WHEN

Not scoring first                                  4-19-2-2
Trailing after 1^st                                   3-15-1-0
Trailing after 2^nd                                  3-20-4-1
At home                                              15-13-7-0
April                                                    4-3-1-0
Saturday                                              11-7-3-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               30 (L. Shaw)
Assists            35 (N. Abruzzese)        
Points              59 (J. Blandisi)
PPG                 8 (L. Shaw)
Shots               199 (A. Steeves)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                140 (K. Clifford)

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:

We played pretty well. We just couldn't score. The score was different but I didn't think that we played that bad. But the difference was we were probably a little bit more desperate. Started putting more pucks to the net. They started to go in. We were a little bit more hungry on their net. But other than that, we didn't really give them all that much. Unfortunately, we lost the game. That's what it's all about at this time of year.

MIKKO KOKKONEN (6 SHOTS)

On the team’s readiness for playoffs:

I think that last period showed us we were ready. Now we just have to play hard tomorrow, get ready on Monday. I don't know when we play, but we have to just keep it going.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

April 21 vs. Cleveland – 4:00 p.m.

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