The Toronto Marlies defeated the Belleville Senators 6-2 on Sunday evening in the second half of a back-to-back. Toronto improves to 41-21-3-2 on the season and 7-3-0-0 against the Senators.
In the opening period, it was the home team who struck first. Alex Steeves scored at 4:48 in the frame to earn his 18th of the season and make it 1-0. Currently, Steeves has 48 points (18G, 30A) in 60 games this season.
Halfway through the second, Belleville responded with a goal by Matthew Wedman at 13:27 to tie the game at one apiece. Later, Rourke Clarke added another at 17:30 to make it 2-1. Before the period was over, Toronto responded with a power-play goal by Zach O’Brien at 19:48 to once again tie the game at two.
In the third, the goals kept coming for Toronto. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored at 3:17 in the frame to regain the lead and make it 3-2. Shortly after, Logan Shaw added another with a power-play goal at 8:53 to earn his 20th of the season and extend the lead to two. Later, Toronto added another with a power-play goal by Zach Solow at 13:51 to make it 5-2. Pontus Holmberg potted the empty net goal at 17:33 to secure the 6-2 win for Toronto.
Keith Petruzzelli stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 40 of the 42 shots he faced.
With the victory and a Syracuse Crunch loss to the Utica Comets, Toronto officially clinches the North Division title for the seventh time in franchise history.
The Marlies return to action on April 5th when they visit the Hartford Wolf Pack. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.
Game notes:
SCORING SUMMARY
Belleville: M. Wedman (3) (G. McPhee, A. Crookshank), R. Chartier (15) SH (J. Lucchini)
Goaltender: A. Bibeau (32/37) L
Toronto: A. Steeves (18) (N. Hoefenmayer, S. Der-Arguchintsev), Z. O’Brien (2) PP (P. Holmberg, N. Hoefenmayer), S. Der-Arguchintsev (10) (Unassisted), L. Shaw (20) PP (S. Der-Arugchintsev, T. Niemelä), Z. Solow (2) PP (N. Hoefenmayer, K. Petruzzelli), P. Holmberg (9) EN (L. Shaw, J. Benn)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (40/42) W
ON THE SCORESHEET
- Alex Steeves opened the scoring at 4:48 of the first period. He has 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) in 60 games this season.
- Zach O’Brien scored on the power play at 19:48 of the second period. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in six games with the Marlies this season. O’Brien has recorded 82 points (23 goals, 59 assists) in 54 games with Newfoundland (ECHL).
- Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored the game-winning goal unassisted at 3:17 of the third period. He also had the secondary assist on Steeves’ first period goal and the primary assist on Shaw’s third period goal. This was his fourth game-winning goal of the season.
- Logan Shaw scored on the power play at 8:53 of the third period and had the primary assist on Holmberg’s empty net goal. He has 65 points (20 goals, 45 assists) in 64 games this season.
- Zach Solow scored on the power play at 13:51 of the third period. He has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in 20 games with the Marlies this season.
- Pontus Holmberg scored on the empty net at 17:33 of the third period and earlier registered the secondary assist on O’Brien’s second period goal.
- Noel Hoefenmayer picked up his second career three-point game, recording the primary assists on Steeves’ first period goal and Solow’s third period goal and the secondary assist on O’Brien’s second period goal. This was his 10th multipoint game of the season. He has 38 points (11 goals, 27 assists) in 62 games this season.
- Topi Niemelä had the secondary assist on Shaw’s third period power play goal. This was his first AHL point in his first AHL game.
- Jordie Benn registered the secondary assist on Holmberg’s third period goal. He has five points (2 goals, 3 assists) in 18 games with the Marlies.
- Keith Petruzzelli stopped 40 of 42 shots he faced. He is 3-0 this season when facing more than 40 shots. Petruzzelli recorded his first career AHL point with the secondary assist on Solow’s third period goal.
TEAM NOTES
- The Toronto Marlies captured the North Division title in today’s win. This is Toronto’s seventh North Division title in franchise history.
- The Marlies were awarded a penalty shot at 5:49 of the second period. Logan Shaw was stopped by Belleville on his first penalty shot this season. This was Toronto’s seven penalty shot of the season (0/7).
- The Marlies went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 3-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 29-8-3-2 when scoring on the power play and 20-7-1-2 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
- Belleville had a 42-38 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 19-12-2-1 when outshot by their opponent.
- The Marlies are 26-11-1-1 against North Division opponents and 7-3-0-0 against the Senators. Toronto has outscored Belleville 33-31 through 10 games.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH GREG MOORE
On today’s game:
It certainly was an identity game for us. It’s been a frustrating stretch for everybody and I’m really proud of the guys pushing through the adversity and finding good energy to come into the game today even with how things went yesterday. I’m really proud of the group for how they played for 60 minutes.
On Keith Petruzzelli’s play:
Really solid. He made some incredible saves. It’s the Keith that we’re accustomed to knowing and how he plays and the confidence in which he plays and the calmness that he brings to our group.
LOGAN SHAW (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)
On today’s game:
We can never go against our work ethic. We’ve been working hard. We just haven’t been getting the results. Tonight, we played a full team game and everyone contributed to that win. From Keith to the defence, right up to the forwards, I thought everyone did their job. It was our mindset going into this weekend, it was just to focus on you and what you’re supposed to do and good things happen. I’m pretty proud of our group today.
UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time
April 5 at Hartford – 7:00 p.m.
April 7 at Utica – 7:00 p.m.
April 12 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
April 15 vs. Belleville – 4:00 p.m.
April 16 vs. Belleville – 4:00 p.m.
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