Toronto Marlies Top Lehigh Valley In First Matchup Of The Season

The Toronto Marlies opened the weekend with a 5-4 shootout win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Saturday evening. This marked Toronto’s first shootout win of the season. Toronto improves to 2-0-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and 21-9-1-1 for the season.  

In the opening period, it was the Phantoms who got on the board first. Olle Lycksell scored at 3:59 to give the visitors the early lead. Shortly after, Adam Ginning scored at 8:05 in the frame to extend Lehigh Valley’s lead to two. Later, Toronto responded with two goals by Joey Anderson to tie the game. Anderson scored on the power-play at 9:58 and at 15:34 in the frame to make it 2-2.  

Early in the second, Toronto took the lead with a power-play goal by Nick Abruzzese at 4:48 to make it 3-2. Shortly after, Lehigh Valley responded with a goal by Artem Anisimov at 5:48 to once again tie the game. Later, Adam Gaudette notched his 14th of the season with a power-play goal at 11:21 to regain the lead. Gaudette currently has 21 points (14G, 7A) in 24 games this season. Before the period was over, Lehigh Valley added another goal by Artem Anisimov at 12:17 to tie the game at three apiece.  

In the third, both teams exchanged chances but the score remained tied, so overtime was needed.  Neither team was able to convert in overtime so the game headed to a shootout.

In the shootout, both Adam Gaudette and Joey Anderson scored to secure the win for Toronto.  

Erik Källgren stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 21 of the 25 shots he faced.

The Marlies return to action on January 8th where they host the Laval Rocket. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Lehigh Valley: O. Lycksell (6) (W. Wylie, A. Anisimov), A. Ginning (2) (Unassisted), A. Anisimov (11) (O. Lycksell), A. Ansimov (12) (T. Foerster, O. Lycksell)
Goaltender: F. Sandstrom (24/28) SO/L

Toronto: J. Anderson (12) PP (L. Shaw, N. Abruzzese), J. Anderson (13) (B. McMann, M. Rifai), N. Abruzzese (9) PP (J. Anderson, L. Shaw), A. Gaudette (14) PP (J. Blandisi, S. Der-Arguchintsev)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (21/25) W

‍

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Joey Anderson scored at 9:58 on the power play and at 15:34, both in the first period. He later added the primary assist on Abruzzese’s second period power play goal. He has points (3-2-5) in his last three games with the Marlies. This was his third three-point game this season and 10^th of his AHL career.
• Nick Abruzzese scored at 4:48 of the second period on the power play and earlier added the secondary assist on Anderson’s power play goal. He has 21 points (9 goals, 12 assists) in 32 games this season.
• Adam Gaudette scored on the power play at 11:21 of the second period. He has 21 points (14 goals, 7 assists) in 24 games this season. Gaudette has goals (2) in consecutive games.
• Logan Shaw recorded the primary assist on Anderson’s first period power play goal and the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. Shaw has 16 points (6 goals, 10 assists) on the power play this season.
• Bobby McMann registered the primary assist on Anderson’s first period goal. He has points (3-4-7) in five consecutive games. McMann has 13 points (6 goals, 7 assists) in 16 games this season.
• Marshall Rifai had the secondary assist on Anderson’s second goal of the first period. He has nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 31 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi recorded the primary assist on Gaudette’s second period goal. He has 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) in his last 10 games.
• Semyon Der-Arguchintsev picked up the secondary assist on Gaudette’s second period goal. He has 28 points (8 goals, 20 assists) in 29 games this season.
• Erik Källgren stopped 21 of 25 shots he faced.

IN THE SHOOTOUT

• Adam Gaudette – Goal (2022-23: 1/1)
• Joey Anderson – Goal (2022-23: 1/1)
• Mikhail Abramov – Stopped (2022-23: 0/2)

TEAM NOTES

• This was Toronto’s first shootout win of the season (1-1).
• The Marlies went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 3-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 17-6-1-1 when scoring on the power play and 12-5-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill. Toronto has recorded three power play goals in a single game twice this season.
• Toronto had a 29-25 edge in shots in all situations. Joey Anderson and Bobby McMann led the Marlies with five shots on goal. Toronto is 10-5-0-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 2-0-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and are 1-0-0-0 against the Phantoms.

‍

POSTGAME QUOTE

‍

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On today’s win:
This team always finds a way at the end of the game to get the job done. It shows a lot of character, maturity in the group. We’re still looking for ways to shut the door earlier in games like this. They were able to respond quickly after we scored a couple of times in this game and for us to do something this year and be a great team towards the end of the regular season, we need to make sure we’re shutting the door in those moments.

On Erik Källgren:

It’s a game he definitely should take some confidence from. The big save in the overtime there on the three-on-one where he had to slide across and make the save on that one-timer and then in the shootout as well. There were also some big saves in the second period that he made when we had some defensive breakdowns. I know he’s been wanting better for himself as of late, this should be a confidence builder for him.

‍

On Joey Anderson:
He’s Mr. Consistency, you know what you’re going to get from him. It was a big response in the first period to be down two goals and our team found their way back into it quickly and he obviously had a big part in that, but that’s also why he’s a leader on our team. He drives a lot of things for us.

‍

ADAM GAUDETTE (1 GOAL)

On the team’s resiliency:

It’s really good. We’re not getting down on ourselves. We’re not negative on the bench, staying positive. Forgetting about the past pretty quick which is good. You need to have some mental toughness in this game, and I think overall as a group we’ve had really good mental toughness and it’s been working for us.

‍

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

January 8 vs. Laval – 4:00 p.m.
January 11 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
January 13 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
January 14 at Rochester – 6:05 p.m.
January 18 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.