Toronto Marlies Top Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins In Tuesday Night Matchup

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2 on Tuesday night.

In the first period, it was Toronto who opened the scoring with an early goal by Joseph Blandisi at 5:47. Blandisi currently has points (5-5-10) in five consecutive games. Halfway through the frame, Ryan Chyzowski scored a goal at 12:17 to extend Toronto’s lead to two heading into the second.  

In the second period, the goals kept coming for Toronto. Noel Hoefenmayer scored his eighth goal of the season on the power-play at 12:11. He is currently fourth overall amongst defensemen in points (8-15-23) through 24 games. Shortly after, Marshall Rifai scored at 15:50 to make it 4-0 after 40 minutes of play.  

In the final frame, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton responded with two unanswered goals by Xavier Ouellet at 12:28 and Alexander Nylander at 18:10 to make it 4-2. Before the period was over, Nick Abruzzese potted the empty netter to make it 5-2 and secure the win for Toronto.  

Joseph Woll stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 37 of the 39 shots he faced. He is now 5-0-0-0 this season.

The Marlies return to action on December 26th at Scotiabank Arena against the Belleville Senators. Puck drop is 3:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

WB/Scranton: X. Ouellet (1) (K. Olson, F. Hallander), A. Nylander (10) PP (T. Smith, F. Hallander)
Goaltender: D. Tokarski (23/27) L

Toronto: J. Blandisi (8) (N. Hoefenmayer, S. Der-Arguchintsev), R. Chyzowski (2) (M. Ellis), N. Hoefenmayer (8) PP (A. Steeves, J. Blandisi), M. Rifai (2) (M. Johnstone, M. Kokkonen), N. Abruzzese (8) EN (A. Gaudette)
Goaltender: J. Woll (37/39) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Joseph Blandisi opened the scoring at 5:47 of the first period and later added the secondary assist on Hoefenmayer’s second period goal. He has points (5-5-10) in five consecutive games. Blandisi has 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists) in 24 games this season.
• Ryan Chyzowski scored at 12:17 of the first period. He has two goals and one assist through 20 games this season.
• Noel Hoefenmayer scored the game-winning goal on the power play at 12:11 of the second period and earlier had the primary assist on Blandisi’s first period goal. This was his first power play goal of the season in his 50^th career AHL game. He has points (3-2-5) in four consecutive games. He is third overall amongst defenceman in points (8-15-23) through 24 games this season.
• Marshall Rifai scored at 15:50 of the second period. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 26 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese scored on the empty net at 19:04 of the third period. He leads all Marlies rookies in goals (8) and points (8-9-17).
• Semyon Der-Arguchintsev registered the secondary assist on Blandisi’s first period goal. He has points (2-5-7) in his five consecutive games. He has 23 points (7 goals, 16 assists) in 24 games this season.
• Max Ellis picked up the lone assist on Chyzowski’s first period goal. He has seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) through 19 games this season.
• Alex Steeves recorded the primary assist on Hoefenmayer’s second period goal. This was his 12^th power play point (4-8-12). He has 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) in 27 games this season.
• Marc Johnstone had the primary assist on Rifai’s second period goal. He has assists (3) in consecutive games.
• Mikko Kokkonen registered the secondary assist on Rifai’s second period goal. He has four assists through 14 games this season.
• Adam Gaudette had the lone assist on Abruzzese’s empty net goal in the third period. He has 17 points (12 goals, 5 assists) through 19 games this season.
• Joseph Woll stopped 37 of 39 shots he faced. He is 5-0-0 this season with a 2.00 goals against average and 0.932 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 4-for-5 on the penalty kill and 1-for-5 on the power play. Toronto is 14-6-1-1 when scoring on the power play and 8-4-1-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill. Toronto has recorded a power play goal (17) in each home game this season.
• WB/Scranton had a 39-28 edge in shots in all situations. Joseph Blandisi, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev and Logan Shaw led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 9-4-1-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 1-0-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and are 1-0-0-0 against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

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POSTGAME QUOTE

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On what the team needs to continue to develop moving forward:

I think every team is chasing consistency. Every team sees spurts of what they want to look like and their identity, and being hard to play against, and what our game looks like when we’re at our best. It’s just always managing the ebbs and flows of the momentum of the game and finding different ways to always keep it tilted in our favour.

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On Marc Johnstone’s performance:
He did great. He’s somebody all season who just keeps adding to what he does and earning more responsibility and showing that he can make really good plays under pressure and tight areas of the game. He’s a very hard player to play against.

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On Joseph Woll’s performance:
He’s beyond (where he was last season). It’s really impressive right now how calm and easy he’s making the game look. You wouldn’t think that he’s been out with the injuries he’s had and missed the games that he’s missed. He looks like he’s midseason form, been playing every day for the last four years. He’s really fun to watch and gave us a great chance to win the hockey game.

NOEL HOEFENMAYER (GAME-WINNING GOAL)

On how the team feels going into the holiday break:
Really good. I think going into the break that was really good for us. Three tough teams, and three good games by us. We feel good going into the break here.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

December 26 vs. Belleville – 1:30 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
December 28 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
December 31 vs. Rochester – 4:00 p.m.
January 3 vs. Utica – 7:00 p.m.
January 7 at Lehigh Valley – 4:00 p.m.