Toronto Marlies Head Into All Star Break With Loss To Laval Rocket

The Toronto Marlies fell 7-3 to the Laval Rocket on Saturday afternoon, falling to 20-8-0-1 against North Division opponents and a 30-12-1-1 record for the season.

Early in the first, Laval opened the scoring with a goal by Madison Bowey at 1:11 to give the Rocket the early lead. Later in the period, Laval added two more goals by Peter Abbandonato at 16:27 and Pierrick Dubé at 17:44 to extend their lead to three heading into the second.  

In the second, Toronto responded with a shorthanded goal by Bobby McMann at 1:22 to earn his ninth of the season and keep the Marlies within two. Shortly after, Laval added two goals by Brandon Gignac at 6:47 and Gabriel Bourque at 11:37 to make it 5-1. Before the period was over, Dryden Hunt earned his first of the season at 15:19 to make it 5-2 after 40 minutes.  

Late in the third, Bobby McMann scored his second of the night at 17:15 to make it 5-3. McMann currently has 17 points (10G,7A) through 19 games with the Marlies. Shortly after, Laval added two empty net goals by Alex Belzile at 19:37 and Jesse Ylönen at 19:43 to make it 7-3.  

Following the All-Star break, the Marlies will return to action on February 10th against the Charlotte Checkers in the first half of a back-to-back. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Laval: M. Bowey (2) (T. Dello, J. Ylonen), P. Abbandonato (9) (C. Schueneman, J. Ylonen), P. Dube (3) (M. Bowey, X. Simoneau), B. Gignac (5) (P. Dube, C. Schueneman), G. Bourque (9) (P. Abbandonato, O. Galipeau), A. Belzile (14) EN (Unassisted), J. Ylonen (9) EN (Unassisted)
Goaltender: C. Primeau (34/37) W

Toronto: B. McMann (9) SH (L. Shaw), D. Hunt (1) (A. Steeves), B. McMann (10) (L. Shaw, N. Abruzzese)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (11/15) L, E. Källgren (8/9)

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Bobby McMann put the Marlies on the board shorthanded at 1:22 of the second period and scored at 17:15 of the third period. This was his first shorthanded goal of the season. He has 17 points (10 goals, 7 assists) in 19 games with the Marlies.
• Dryden Hunt scored at 15:19 of the second period. He has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
• Logan Shaw had the lone assist on McMann’s second period goal and the primary assist on McMann’s third period goal. He has 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 45 games this season and is fourth overall in points. With his second assist of the game, Shaw has set a new career-high in total points through one season.
• Alex Steeves picked up the lone assist on Hunt’s second period goal. He has points (3-2-5) in four consecutive games.
• Nick Abruzzese recorded the secondary assist on McMann’s third period goal. He has 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 45 games this season.
• Keith Petruzzelli stopped 11 of 15 shots he faced through 26:47 of action. Erik Källgren stopped 8 of 9 shots in relief.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 7-8-0-0 when not scoring on the power play and 15-8-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 37-26 edge in shots in all situations. Bobby McMann and Logan Shaw led the Marlies with five shots on goal. Toronto is 14-7-0-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 20-8-0-1 against North Division opponents and 5-1-0-0 against the Laval Rocket. Toronto has outscored Laval 27-21 through six games.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On today’s game:
Certainly, the first period wasn’t what we wanted. They, as we expected, came out really hard and physical. They set up their forecheck game before we did. We weren’t able to start the sequence of events that allowed us to play like we did yesterday. Defensively in our D zone, we didn’t box out, we didn’t protect our goalie. A couple rebound goals there were a sign of that. As the game went on, obviously there was a response by our team. They’ve done a lot of good work this year and they know what it takes to be competitive. Just a little let down I guess on wanting to finish off strong here in these 60-minutes before the break today.

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BOBBY McMANN (2 GOALS)

On today’s game:

I think we thought it was going to be easier than it was at the start. We’ve got to know there’s no easy night. We got behind and then I don’t think we stuck to what we had success with the last game, and that was just getting pucks behind and skating and using our skill once we got into their zone. We were trying to be a little too fancy with it early on and that bit us pretty hard.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 10 at Charlotte – 7:00 p.m.
February 11 at Charlotte – 6:00 p.m.
February 13 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
February 15 vs. Utica – 11:00 a.m.
February 17 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m.