Toronto Marlies Open New Year With Overtime Win Over Utica

The Toronto Marlies opened the new year with a 5-4 overtime win against the Utica Comets on Tuesday night. This marked Toronto’s fifth overtime game (4-1) of the season. Toronto improves to 14-7-0-1 against North Division opponents and 3-0-0-0 against the Comets.  

In the first, Utica opened the scoring with a goal by Mason Geertsen at 7:01 to give the visitors the early lead. The goal would stand to give Utica a 1-0 heading into the second.  

Early in the second period, Toronto responded with a goal by Bobby McMann at 3:08 to tie the game at one a piece. McMann has 12 points (6G, 6A) in 15 games this season. Shortly after, Graeme Clark scored at 9:19 to regain the lead for Utica. Later, Alex Steeves notched his 11th of the season at 14:18 to tie the game at two. Just 23 seconds later, former Toronto Marlie Andreas Johnsson scored to once again give the lead to Utica after two periods.  

In the third, Zach Senyshyn added another goal for Utica at 6:14 to make it 4-2 for the visitors. Later, Toronto added two unanswered goals by Filip Král at 14:44 and Logan Shaw at 19:11 to send the game to overtime.  

In the extra frame, Adam Gaudette scored the overtime winner at 1:13 to secure the win. Gaudette currently has 20 points (13G, 7A) in 23 games this season.  

Joseph Woll stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 27 of the 31 shots he faced. This marked his fifth career AHL overtime win.  

The Marlies return to action on January 7th when they host the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Puck drop is 7:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Utica: M. Geertsen (1) (N. Hutchison, B. Halonen), G. Clarke (11) (A. Johnsson, N. Stevens), A. Johnsson (4) (R. Schmelzer, T. Wotherspoon), Z. Senyshyn (5) (A. Johnsson, N. Foote)
Goaltender: A. Schmid (27/32) OT/L

Toronto: B. McMann (6) (L. Shaw), A. Steeves (11) (K. Clifford, M. Johnstone), F. Král (1) (B. McMann, L. Shaw), L. Shaw (11) (B. McMann), A. Gaudette (13) (J. Anderson, M. Hollowell)
Goaltender: J. Woll (27/31) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Bobby McMann scored at 3:08 of the second period. He has also had assists on Král’s and Shaw’s third period goals. He has points (3-3-6) in four consecutive games. This was his first career AHL three-point game. McMann has 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) in 15 games this season.
• Alex Steeves scored at 14:18 of the second period. He has points (1-4-5) in his last four games.
• Filip Král scored at 14:44 of the third period. This was his first goal of the season in eight games.
• Logan Shaw scored the game-tying goal at 19:11 of the third period. He earlier had assists on McMann’s second period goal and Král’s third period goal. His first assist was his 21^st assist of the season, marking a career-high in a season and his second assists was 100^thcareer AHL assist. This was his seventh multi-point game of the season.
• Adam Gaudette scored the game-winning goal at 1:13 of overtime. This was his third game-winning goal of the season. He has 20 points (13 goals, 7 assists) in 23 games this season.
• Kyle Clifford recorded the primary assist on Steeves’ second period goal.
• Marc Johnstone picked up the secondary assist on Steeves’ second period goal. He has seven assists through 28 games this season with the Marlies.
• Joey Anderson registered the primary assist on Gaudette’s overtime goal. He has 20 points (11 goals, 9 assists) in 22 games this season with the Marlies.
• Mac Hollowell had the secondary assist on Gaudette’s overtime goal. He led all Marlies with four shots on goal.
• Joseph Woll stopped 27 of 31 shots he faced. He is 7-0-0 this season with a 2.29 goals against average and a 0.926 save percentage. This was his fifth career AHL overtime win.

TEAM NOTES

• This was Toronto’s fifth overtime game (4-1) this season. Four different goaltenders have won in overtime for Toronto – Keith Petruzzelli, Dylan Ferguson, Dryden McKay and Joseph Woll.
• The Marlies did not record a penalty and went 0-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 4-3-0-0 when not scoring on the power play and 11-5-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 32-31 edge in shots in all situations. Mac Hollowell led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 9-5-0-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 14-7-0-1 against North Division opponents and are 3-0-0-0 against the Comets. Toronto has outscored Utica 11-8 through three games.

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POSTGAME QUOTE

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On the come from behind win:

There’s definitely no quit. There’s definitely no give up. There’s a lot of belief in the group that the game is 60 minutes for a reason. We struggled to find our way today with our game plan and just finding the puck a bit but the wind was never knocked out of our sails. The guys were motivated to keep pushing in the third. I’m proud of the way they kept fighting and found a way to win this game.

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JOSEPH WOLL (SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE WIN)

On his performance in tonight’s game:
It was an interesting game. Probably would like to have the fourth one back. The guy beat me. It happens in hockey. I think it was important for me to maintain my focus. You get down 4-2 like that, there’s still a chance like we showed to come back. I think that’s one of the biggest things I’ve noticed about my game is just the ability to stay the same regardless of what happens and I think that was important tonight.

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On Logan Shaw’s game-tying goal:
I don’t know as much surprised as impressed. He comes in and he puts the work in every day. So to me, it’s no surprise that he’s able to perform in clutch moments. He’s got the same attitude at all times in the game. When the game’s on the line, he’s obviously got the trust to put it away.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

January 7 vs. Lehigh Valley – 4:00 p.m.
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.