Toronto Marlies Top Laval Rocket In First Half Of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Laval Rocket 4-1 on Friday night in the first half of a back-to-back. Toronto improves to 20-7-0-1 against North Division opponents and 19-5-1-0 when playing at home.

In the first, Toronto opened the scoring with a power-play goal by Alex Steeves at 1:36 to get the early 1-0 lead. Toronto would carry the one goal lead into the second.  

In the second period, Laval responded with a goal by Peter Abbandonato at 6:23 to tie the game at one apiece. Later, Mikhail Abramov added another for Toronto to regain the lead and make it 2-1 after 40 minutes.

Late in the third, Toronto extended their lead to two with a goal by Marshall Rifai at 16:23. Shortly after, Alex Steeves potted the empty netter at 17:57 to notch his second of the night and make it 4-1 to secure the win.

Joseph Woll stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 25 of the 26 shots he faced, improving to 13-1-0 for the season.

The Marlies return to action on February 4th when they host the Laval Rocket in their second Next Gen Game of the season. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Laval: P. Abbandonato (8) (O. Galipeau, X. Simoneau)
Goaltender: C. Primeau (32/35) L

Toronto: A. Steeves (15) PP (L. Shaw), M. Abramov (5) (M. Pietroniro, J. Blandisi), M. Rifai (4) (Unassisted), A. Steeves (16) EN (J. Blandisi, D. Hunt)
Goaltender: J. Woll (25/26) W

‍

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Alex Steeves opened the scoring on the power play at 1:36 of the first period and added an empty net goal at 17:57 of the third period. This was his fifth power play goal of the season. He has points (3-1-4) in three consecutive games. This was his 100^th career AHL game.
• Mikhail Abramov scored at 19:08 of the second period. This was his third game-winning goal this season.
• Marshall Rifai scored unassisted at 16:23 of the third period. He has 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in 43 games this season.
• Logan Shaw had the lone assist on Steeves’ first period goal. He has 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) in 44 games this season and is fourth overall in points. Shaw was the third player in the AHL to hit the 50-point mark this season.
• Matteo Pietroniro recorded the primary assist on Abramov’s second period goal. He has one goal and two assists through 30 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi picked up the secondary assist on Abramov’s second period goal and the primary assist on Steeves’ third period goal. He has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in 41 games this season. This was his 400^th career professional game.
• Dryden Hunt had the secondary assist on Steeves’ third period goal. This was his first point as a Marlie.
• Joseph Woll stopped 25 of 26 shots he faced. He is 13-1-0 this season with a 2.36 goals against average and a .930 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES

• Toronto is 9-0-1-0 when scoring four goals. The team has scored four or more goals in each win over Laval this season.
• The Marlies went 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 23-4-1-1 when scoring on the power play and 15-7-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 36-26 edge in shots in all situations. Marshall Rifai led the Marlies with five shots on goal. Toronto is 14-6-0-0 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 20-7-0-1 against North Division opponents and 5-0-0-0 against the Laval Rocket. Toronto has outscored Laval 24-14 through five games.

‍

POSTGAME QUOTES

‍

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:
I really liked our first period and how we came out executing our plan. I felt like our team had really good energy today. We were able to utilize all four lines and the depth of our squad. I thought positionally from goalie to defence to forwards, everyone played really well.

‍

JOSEPH BLANDISI (2 ASSISTS)

On the team’s play tonight:

I thought it was a 60-minute effort. Top to bottom everybody contributed. We get great goaltending, D were moving the puck to the forwards quick and our forwards had legs tonight. It was a pretty good group effort and we’re happy with the result.

‍

On his 400^th career professional game and reflecting on his career:
Lots of ups and downs, lots of adverse moments that I’ve had to fight through, but it’s all led me to where I am today and I’m happy to be home playing for my hometown team. I’m thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and hope there’s more to come.

‍

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 4 vs. Laval – 4:00 p.m.
February 10 at Charlotte – 7:00 p.m.
February 11 at Charlotte – 6:00 p.m.
February 13 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
February 15 vs. Utica – 11:00 a.m.