Toronto Marlies Top Utica Comets In First School Day Game Of The Season

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Utica Comets 2-1 on Wednesday afternoon in a divisional matchup. Toronto improves to 33-12-2-1 for the season and 4-0-0-0 against the Comets.  

Late in the first, Toronto opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Bobby McMann at 17:02 to take the early lead.  

In the second, Utica responded with a late goal by Mason Geertsen at 18:04 to tie the game at one apiece.  

In the final frame, Dryden Hunt added another for Toronto at 11:01 to regain the lead and secure the win for the Marlies. Hunt currently has points (3-2-5) in five consecutive games.

Erik Källgren stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 45 of the 46 shots he faced.

The Marlies return to action on February 17th when they head to Rochester to face the Americans in the 1st half of a back-to-back.

SCORING SUMMARY

Utica: M. Geertsen (4) (J. Gambardella, R. Schmelzer)
Goaltender: A. Schmid (25/27) L

Toronto: B. McMann (12) PP (L. Shaw, N. Hoefenmayer), D. Hunt (3) (A. Steeves, J. Blandisi)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (45/46) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Bobby McMann opened the scoring on the power play at 17:02 of the first period. He has 14 points (9 goals, 5 assists) in his last 12 games.
• Dryden Hunt score the game-winning goal at 11:01 of the third period. He has points (3-2-5) in five consecutive games.
• Logan Shaw recorded the primary assist on McMann’s first period goal. This was his 16^th power play assist of the season. Shaw is tied for second overall in points (17-38-55).
• Noel Hoefenmayer picked up the secondary assist on McMann’s first period goal. He has 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 45 games this season.
• Alex Steeves registered the primary assist on Hunt’s third period goal. He has points (3-3-6) in his last five games with the Marlies.
• Joseph Blandisi had the secondary assist on Steeves’ third period goal. He set a career-high for points (10-20-30) with a single team in one season in today’s game.
• Erik Källgren stopped 45 of 46 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• Joseph Blandisi was stopped on a penalty shot by Utica at 10:13 of the first period. Toronto has been awarded four penalty shots this season (0/4).
• Toronto is now 18-3-2-1 in one-goal games.
• The Marlies went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 25-5-2-1 when scoring on the power play and 16-8-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Utica had a 46-27edge in shots in all situations. Tommy Miller led the Marlies with five shots on goal. Toronto is 16-5-2-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 21-8-0-1 against North Division opponents and 4-0-0-0 against the Utica Comets.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On today’s game:
I thought the effort was really good. The start was strong. We got to our plan early. Towards the end of the first, the middle of the second, they started to do a really good with their plan. We mismanaged the puck too many times throughout the game to give them momentum. Our guys knew that. You could sense the frustration on the bench. As we push here especially with teams like this that are right on our tail in our division, we’ve got to make sure that those puck decisions are setting up a sequence of events for us to control the game consistently.

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On Källgren’s performance:
Really impressed. He looked really good. Yesterday in practice, he looked really sharp, carried into today’s game. We needed him to make some big saves. Every team that’s going to find ways to win need that. Really good game by him and something to build confidence from.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 17 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m.
February 18 vs. Rochester – 4:00 p.m.
February 20 vs. Utica – 3:00 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
February 25 vs. Laval – 4:00 p.m.
February 26 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.