Toronto Marlies Fall To Syracuse Crunch In First Half Of Back To Back

The Toronto Marlies fell 6-3 to the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring 6:43 into the first period, giving the Marlies a quick 1-0 lead. Gabriel Dumont tied the game atone for the Crunch 12 minutes later. Nick Abruzzese reclaimed the lead with a power play goal three minutes with just over two minutes remaining in the first, giving the Marlies a 2-1 lead through 20 minutes of play.  

Jack Finley tied the game at two 6:08 into the second period.Joe Carroll scored a pair of goals within the first five minutes of the third period to give the Crunch a 4-2 lead. Kieffer Bellows cut the lead to 4-3 with just over six minutes remaining in regulation, but Cole Koepke added an insurance marker and an empty net goal for the Crunch in the final five minutes of the third.

After the game, Head Coach John Gruden explained turnovers cost his team in the final period.

“When you're getting in those tight games, the team that can stick to their process and their structure will win,” Gruden said. “We did not do that. We turned the puck over. High turnovers. We gave up four two on ones that period – I don't think we've given up a two on one in four games.”

Despite the loss, the Marlies scored their second power play goal in as many games and Nick Abruzzese busted a goal scoring drought.

 “Well, it's super important,” Gruden said when asked about Abruzzese getting on the board. “For him to be on that power play, that's what he's therefor -- score goals and put up points. He's a smart hockey player, he can make plays. He's gotta continue to do that moving forward.”

The Marlies will be back in action Sunday evening at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 4:00 PM on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Syracuse:  G. Dumont (9) PP (G. Goncalves, M. Crozier), J. Finley (2) (M. Groshev), J. Carroll (5) (J. Finley), J. Carroll (6) (Unassisted), C. Koepke (5) (D. Stephens, M. Crozier), C. Koepke (6) EN (W. Merelä)Goaltender: M. Tomkins (37/40) W

Toronto: J. Blandisi (9) (R. Tverberg), N. Abruzzese (6) PP (A. Steeves, T. Niemelä), K. Bellows (R. Tverberg, M. Lajoie)Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (18/23) L

ON THE SCORESHEET

Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring at 6:43 of the first period. He has 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) in his last 11 games.Nick Abruzzese scored on the power play at 17:41 of the first period. He leads all Marlies in power play points (3-5-8). He has 24 points (6 goals, 18 assists) in 30 games this season.Kieffer Bellows scored at 14:13 of the third period. He leads all Marlies in goals (12).Ryan Tverberg had the lone assist on Blandisi’s first period goal and the primary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 15 games this season.Alex Steeves recorded the primary assist on Abruzzese’s first period goal. He has 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 25 games this season.Topi Niemelä picked up the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s first period goal. He has 18 points (6 goals, 12 assists) in 28 games this season.Max Lajoie registered the secondary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has nine points (1 goal, eight assists) in 20 games this season.Keith Petruzzelli stopped 18 of 23 shots he faced.TEAM NOTES

The Marlies went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 1-for-5 on the power play. Toronto is 6-4-3-1 when scoring on the power play and 7-6-4-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.Toronto had a 40-24 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 8-9-3-1 when outshooting their opponent.The Marlies are 3-8-4-1 against North Division opponents and are 0-3-0-0 against the Crunch.RECORD WHEN

Scoring first                                        12-4-4-1Leading after 1st                                  11-2-2-0Tied after 2nd                                        2-3-0-1At home                                              7-7-3-0January                                               0-2-0-0Saturday                                              4-3-2-0

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               12 (K. Bellows)Assists            18 (N. Abruzzese)
Points              26 (A. Steeves)PPG                 3 (N. Abruzzese, D. Ovchinnikov)Shots               85 (L. Shaw)+/-                    +15 (J. Blandisi)PIMS                55 (K. Clifford)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:We're in it together as a team. We're not here to point fingers and blame anyone because that's not what we do. We win together, we lose together. We find solutions. We've got to fix it. There's still a lot of season to be played. Knowing the group that we have in there I know they'll find a way.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

January 7 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.January 12 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.January 14 at Belleville – 2:00 p.m.January 20 at Charlotte – 4:00 p.m.January 21 at Charlotte – 1:00 p.m.