Toronto Marlies Fall To Manitoba Moose in Second Half of Back-to-Back

The Toronto Marlies fell 4-2 to the Manitoba Moose on Sunday evening. Toronto is now tied for first in the North Division with an 8-4-2-0 record.

The Moose opened the scoring on Sunday with goals from Nicholas Jones and Brad Lambert in the first period.

In the second, Alex Steeves picked up the first Marlies goal early in the second period, extending his league leading point streak to 11 games. The Moose answered with a goal from C.J. Seuss 10 minutes later, extending their lead to 3-1. Kieffer Bellows added another goal for the Marlies with just under four minutes remaining in the second, extending his point streak to seven games, and pulling the Marlies within one goal heading into the third.

The Moose sealed the game with an empty net goal late in the third period. After splitting the back-to-back weekend with the Moose, Head Coach John Gruden didn’t want to dwell on the loss, “Not gonna take one game and think of it as a complete dissappointment.” Gruden said, “We’ll fix it, we’ll move forward.”

With a goal in today’s game, Kieffer Bellows added his fifth goal in just seven games with the Marlies. Alex Steeves said the forward has fit in well with the team, “He’s a really good guy off the ice. Nice Minnesota boy. Ont he ice, he’s just playing an honest game.” Steeves said, “Obviously an offensively gifted player. Like tonight, getting a goal in the crease is really big. You’re not always gonna beat a goalie clean with a shot. Nice to see him getting goals in different ways.”

The Marlies will be back in action on Tuesday when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms at 7:00pm. Fans can watch the game live on the Toronto Maple Leafs app or AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Manitoba: N. Jones (2) (D. Chisholm, J. Malott), B. Lambert (6) (J. Malott, S. Lundmark), C. Suess (3) (C. Lucius), N. Chibrikov (5) EN (C. Suess, D. Zhilkin)
Goaltender: C. Delia (24/26) W

Toronto: A. Steeves (11) (Unassisted), K. Bellows (5) (P. Holmberg, T. Miller)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (17/20) L

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Alex Steeves put the Marlies on the board unassisted at 12:08 of the second period. He has 16 points (11-5-16) through 11 consecutive games which is the longest active point streak in the AHL. Steeves is second overall in goals (12).
• Kieffer Bellows scored at 16:18 of the second period. He has points (5-6-11) in seven consecutive games.
• Pontus Holmberg picked up the primary assist on Bellows’ second period goal. He has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four games with the Marlies.
• Tommy Miller recorded the secondary assist on Bellows’ second period goal. He has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 11 games this season.
• Keith Petruzzelli stopped 17 of 20 shots he faced.

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TEAM NOTES

• Alex Steeves’ point streak extended to 11 games with his second period goal. His point streak now stands as the third longest in Marlies franchise history. Spencer Abbott recorded points (1-18-19) in 13 games in the 2013-14 season.
• The Marlies went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 0-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 5-3-0-0 when not scoring on the power play and 4-3-0-0 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 26-21 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 7-3-2-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 4-2-0-0 against Central Division opponents and are 1-1-0-0 against the Moose.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On today’s game:

We weren’t our best. Give them credit, they had a game plan to shut us down and stay above us. We didn’t respond very well to it. Again, not going to take one game and think of it as a complete disappointment. We’ll fix it. We’ll move forward.

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

November 21 vs. Lehigh Valley – 7:00 p.m.
November 24 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.
November 26 vs. Cleveland – 4:00 p.m.
December 1 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
December 2 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.