Toronto Marlies Fall To Laval Rocket In 2nd Half of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies fell 7-1 to the Laval Rocket on Saturday afternoon atCoca-Cola Coliseum, splitting a two-game weekend series with Laval. Toronto isnow third in the North Division with a 20-15-6-2 record.

Filip Cederqvist opened the scoring 11:38 in the first period. Xavier Simoneau and Jan Myšák added goals at 12:27 and 18:09, giving the Rocket a 3-0 lead through 20 minutes of play.

Nathan Légaré scored just over 11 minutes into the second and Xavier Simoneau added a goal three and a half minutes later. Logan Mailloux scored with just over four minutes remaining in the middle period, before Roni Hirvonen got the Marlies on the board with his first goal of the year two minutes later.

Nathan Légaré scored his second of the game 6:52 into the final frame.

“We knew that wasn't going to be easy,” Head Coach John Gruden said after the game. “Any time you're going back-to-back in games against a division rival it's not easy. We didn't do the little things right. They had a push right off the get go. We didn't start badly actually, I take that back. First five minutes managed it pretty well andthen we started playing a little four on four hockey and for whatever reason we lost momentum. We never got it on track. Little disappointing.”

Hirvonen’s goal extended a streak of four straight games that the Marlies have scored a power play goal.

The Marlies will be back in action on Wednesday against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 11:00 am on the Toronto Maple Leafs app or on AHLTV.

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SCORING SUMMARY
Laval: F. Cederqvist (3) (T. Bisson, M. Norlinder), X. Simoneau (6) PP (P. Maillet, L. Mailloux), J. Mysak (11) (L. Andersson), N. Legare (5) (O. Galipeau, L. Mailloux), X. Simoneau (7) (Unassisted), L. Mailloux (11) (Unassisted), N. Legare (6) SH (L. Condotta, T. Bisson)
Goaltender: K. Kaskisuo (28/29) W

Toronto: R. Hirvonen (1) PP (R. Mastrosimone, M. Rifai)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (9/12) L, D. Hildeby (15/19)  

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Roni Hirvonen put the Marlies on the board at 17:47 of the second period on the power play. This was his first career AHL goal. He has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in eight games this season.
• Robert Mastrosimone picked up the primary assist on Hirvonen’s second period goal. He has points (2-4-6) in five consecutive games. Mastrosimone has 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 31 games this season.
• Marshall Rifai had the secondary assist on Hirvonen’s second period goal. He has 11 points (2 goals, 9 assists) in 31 games this season.
• Keith Petruzzelli stopped 9 of 12 shots he faced in 20:00 of action. Dennis Hildeby stopped 15 of 19 shots in relief.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 1-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 12-6-5-2 when scoring on the power play and 8-8-5-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Laval had a 31-29 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows led the Marlies with seven shots on goal. Toronto is 7-4-2-0 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 6-11-5-2 against North Division opponents and 2-2-0-0 against the Rocket this season. Toronto has outscored Laval 15-13 through four games.

RECORD WHEN

Not scoring first                                  1-12-2-0
Trailing after 1^st                                  3-8-1-0
Trailing after 2^nd                                  2-11-2-1
At home                                              9-8-4-0
February                                              2-1-0-1
Saturday                                              6-4-2-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               19 (L. Shaw)
Assists            26 (J. Blandisi)
Points              38 (J. Blandisi, A. Steeves)
PPG                 5 (L. Shaw, R. Tverberg)
Shots               123 (L. Shaw)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                78 (Z. Solow)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:

We knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Any time you're going back-to-back in games against a division rival, it's not easy. We didn't do the little things right. They had a push right off the get go. We didn't start badly actually; I take that back. First five minutes managed it pretty well and then we started playing a little four-on-four hockey and for whatever reason we lost momentum. We never got it on track. Little disappointing. We didn't seize the opportunity. We just have to move on from it.

On what it’s going to take for the team to move forward:
We just have to keep showing them, let them understand, but it's a confidence thing. We're so close to being a really good team in this league, but so close to not. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror, all of us, coaches included. We’ve got to figure it out because we've got a good team in there. We don't want to just crumble everything, we want to make sure that we stay positive.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 14 vs. WB/Scranton – 11:00 a.m.
February 16 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
February 17 vs. Hershey – 4:00 p.m.
February 19 vs. Rochester – 2:00 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
February 23 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.

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