Toronto Marlies Top Belleville Senators In Friday Night Divisional Battle

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Belleville Senators 4-3 on Friday night in their eighth meeting between the two clubs this season.

In the first period, both teams exchanged chances, but the score remained 0-0.

In the second period, Belleville opened the scoring with a power play goal from Tyler Kleven. Rourke Chartier added another for the home side three minutes later to give them a 2-0 lead. But, before the period was over, Alex Steeves and Joseph Blandisi both scored power play goals for Toronto, while Zach Solow added another at even strength to give the Marlies a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes of play.

In the third period, Belleville tied the game at three with a power play goal from Angus Crookshank at 8:08. Kieffer Bellows scored his 19th of the season, and eventual  game winner for Toronto, just a couple minutes later at 10:24.

Luke Cavallin stopped 33 of 36 shots he faced in his first career AHL victory.

The Marlies return to action on Saturday when they host the Hershey Bears. Puck drop is at 4:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs App, AHLTV, and NHL Network.

SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: A. Steeves (19) PP (W. Villeneuve), Z. Solow (7) (T. Niemelä, R. Mastrosimone), J. Blandisi (13) PP (A. Steeves, L. Shaw), K. Bellows (19) PP (K. Clifford, T. Niemelä)
Goaltender: L. Cavallin (33/36) W

Belleville: T. Kleven (3) PP (Z. MacEwen, J. Currie), R. Chartier (3) (E. Sokolov, A. Crookshank), A. Crookshank (17) PP (J. Larsson, M. Highmore)
Goaltender: K. Mandolese (31/34) L, L. Merilainen (2/3)

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Alex Steeves put the Marlies on the board at 12:28 of the second period on the power play and later added the primary assist on Blandisi’s power play goal. He has 40 points (19 goals, 21 assists) in 39 games this season.
• Zach Solow scored at 17:33 of the second period. He has 16 points (7 goals, 9 assists) in 40 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi scored on the power play at 18:23 of the second period. He has 39 points (13 goals, 26 assists) in 44 games this season.
• Kieffer Bellows scored on the power play at 10:24 of the third period. This was his first game-winning goal of the season. He has 33 points (19 goals, 14 assists) in 38 games.
• William Villeneuve had the lone assist on Steeves’ second period goal. He has 17 points (2 goals, 15 assists) in 34 games this season.
• Topi Niemelä recorded the primary assist on Solow’s second period goal and the secondary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 27 points (6 goals, 21 assists) in 43 games this season.
• Robert Mastrosimone picked up the secondary assist on Solow’s second period goal. He has 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists) in 34 games this season.
• Logan Shaw registered the secondary assist on Blandisi’s second period goal. He has 34 points (19 goals, 15 assists) in 42 games this season.
• Kyle Clifford recorded the primary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) in 35 games this season.
• Luke Cavallin stopped 33 of 36 shots he faced. This was his first career AHL win.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 4-for-6 on the penalty kill and 3-for-3 on the power play. Toronto is 13-6-5-2 when scoring on the power play and 9-8-5-1 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 37-36 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with five shots on goal. Toronto is 14-11-4-2 when outshooting their opponent.
• The Marlies are 7-11-5-2 against North Division opponents and are 3-3-2-0 against the Senators this season. Toronto has outscored Belleville 26-25 through seven games. Alex Steeves leads all Marlies in points (3-4-7). Ryan Tverberg leads all Marlies in goals (4) and William Villeneuve in assists (6).

RECORD WHEN

Not scoring first                                  2-13-2-0
Tied after 1^st                                        7-5-3-2
Leading after 2^nd                                  16-1-3-0
At home                                              10-9-4-0
February                                              3-2-0-1
Saturday                                              7-4-2-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               19 (K. Bellows, L. Shaw, A. Steeves)
Assists            26 (J. Blandisi)
Points              40 (A. Steeves)
PPG                 5 (L. Shaw, A. Steeves, R. Tverberg)
Shots               129 (L. Shaw)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                80 (Z. Solow)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On the team’s performance:

I liked our bench and I liked our game, up until they scored a couple of goals. We had to respond. They had their push. We played good in the first and then we were fortunate enough to get those goals, get the push to give us the victory. Great response from being down and we found a way to get it done at the end of the game.

LUKE CAVALLIN (FIRST CAREER AHL WIN)

On his first win:

It feels great. It’s been a long time coming. The boys did a great job out there and it was a lot of fun. Those close ones are fun to win. I thought it was really exciting the whole time. That’s a big one.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 17 vs. Hershey – 4:00 p.m.
February 19 vs. Rochester – 2:00 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
February 23 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
February 24 at Laval – 3:00 p.m.
February 28 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.

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