Toronto Marlies Top Charlotte Checkers In Second Half Of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Charlotte Checkers 4-2 on Sunday evening. The win moves Toronto’s record to 2-1-1-0 on the season.

Topi Niemelä opened the scoring for the Marlies, picking up his first of the year at 12:49 in the first period. Alex Steeves scored midway through the second period, extending the Marlies lead to two at 6:04 in the middle frame. With an assist on Steeves’ goal, Max Ellis extended his point streak to three games. He has picked up three points, all assists, during the streak.

Riley Bezeau recorded the Checkers first goal of the game late in the second period, making it 2-1 Marlies at 14:58 in the second period.

Just under three minutes into the third period, Zac Dalpe tied the game at 2 with a power play goal. Nicholas Robertson netted the game-winner mid-way into the final frame, firing home a power play goal to give the Marlies a late 3-2 lead. Robertson now leads the Marlies with three goals in four games.

Joseph Blandisi then iced the game with an empty net goal in the final minute of the game, extending his point streak to three games. Blandisi has recorded five points – two goals, three assists – during that time.

The Marlies are back in action on Tuesday night when they host the Milwaukee Admirals at Coca Cola Coliseum. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app or on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Charlotte: T. Bezeau (1) (Unassisted), Z. Dalpe (1) PP (R. Asplund, S. Kinnunen)
Goaltender: M. Guzda (21/24) L

Toronto: T. Niemelä (1) (Z. Solow, J. Slavin), A. Steeves (1) (M. Ellis, R. Tverberg), N. Robertson (3) PP (N. Abruzzese, L. Shaw), J. Blandisi (2) EN (K. Clifford, L. Shaw)
Goaltender: M. Jones (14/16) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Topi Niemelä opened the scoring at 12:49 of the first period. This was his first goal of the season. He has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
• Alex Steeves scored at 6:04 of the second period. This was his first goal of the season and his 100^th career AHL point. He has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in four games this season.
• Nicholas Robertson scored on the power play at 11:10 of the third period. He has six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in four games.
• Joseph Blandisi scored an empty net goal at 19:11 of the third period. He has recorded five points (2 goal, 3 assists) in three consecutive games.
• Zach Solow recorded the primary assist on Niemelä’s first period goal.
• Josiah Slavin had the secondary assist on Niemelä’s first period goal. He has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
• Max Ellis registered the primary assist on Steeves’ second period goal. He has assists (3) in three consecutive games. Ellis recorded 10 assists in 49 games last season.
• Ryan Tverberg picked up the secondary assist on Steeves’ second period goal.
• Nick Abruzzese had the primary assist on Robertson’s second period power play goal. This was Abruzzese’s 50^th career AHL point.
• Logan Shaw recorded the secondary assists on Robertson and Blandisi’s third period goal. This is his second multi-point game of the season.
• Kyle Clifford registered the primary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal.
• Martin Jones stopped 14 of 16 shots he faced.

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TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 6-for-7 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 1-0-1-0 when scoring on the power play and 2-1-1-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 25-16 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with seven shots on goal. Toronto is 2-1-1-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 1-1-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and are 1-1-0-0 against the Checkers.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:

There were a lot of little differences in the game (from yesterday’s) like the blocked shots, just the commitment level from our guys and understanding what was at stake. They were a tough team. They made it hard on us. We took advantage of the things that we could help ourselves with. Credit to our players though, they executed.

On the team’s defensive effort:

A lot of blocked shots. Just taking away time and space. Charlotte plays with a lot of pace and when you give teams like that a little bit of room, they’re going to make you pay. The penalty kill was outstanding, even though they got the one. I thought we did a lot of good there, made it difficult on them on their entry and again made it hard. It was a big part of (the win). It was a big reason why we won this game.

ALEX STEEVES (1 GOAL)

On today’s game:

We did a lot of the same things as yesterday just more consistently. We were more connected on our exits and our forecheck. We did a better job of creating offence off our forecheck. Limiting the amount of chances against Jonesy who played well tonight. I thought yesterday we didn’t get them a ton of shots either but just cashing in on some chances, got a special teams’ goal which was huge, our PK was great. It feels like the first game of the year where we won the special teams battle. In my experience in this league when you win the special teams, you’re definitely ahead of the pack. It was just a more consistent effort.

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

October 24 vs. Milwaukee – 7:00 p.m.
October 27 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
October 28 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
November 3 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
November 4 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.