Toronto Marlies Top Charlotte Checkers In Second Half Of Back-To-Back

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Charlotte Checkers 4-3 on Saturday night in the second half of a back-to-back. The series is currently split with both teams taking home a win.  

Halfway through the first, Adam Gaudette notched his 20th of the season with a power-play goal at 13:30 to give Toronto the early 1-0 lead. Shortly after, Nick Abruzzese added another for Toronto at 16:56 to make it 2-0 heading into the second.  

In the second, Toronto extended their lead to three with a goal by Mikhail Abramov at 11:39 to make it 3-0 for the visiting team.  

Early in the third, Max Ellis added another for Toronto at 5:07 to make it 4-0. Shortly after, Charlotte responded with three unanswered goals by Matt Kiersted at 7:56, Henry Bowlby at 11:37, and Gerry Mayhew at 16:19 to keep within one, but it would not be enough.  

Keith Petruzzelli stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 26 of the 29 shots he faced.

The Marlies return to action on February 13th when they host the Manitoba Moose. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: A. Gaudette (20) PP (W. Villeneuve, D. Hunt), N. Abruzzese (14) (N. Hoefenmayer, W. Villeneuve), M. Abramov (6) (Z. O’Brien, M. Ellis), M. Ellis (4) (M. Abramov, Z. O’Brien)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (26/29) W

Charlotte: M. Kiersted (3) SH (J. Sourdif), H. Bowlby (6) (R. Bezeau, L. Carlsson), G. Mayhew (11) PP (J. Sourdif, S. Kinnunen)
Goaltender: M. Guzda (25/29) L

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Adam Gaudette opened the scoring on the power play at 13:30 of the first period. This was his 20^th goal of the season.
• Nick Abruzzese scored at 16:56 of the first period. He has points (1-2-3) in three consecutive games. Abruzzese has 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 47 games this season and is fourth amongst all AHL rookies.
• Mikhail Abramov scored at 11:39 of the second period and later added the primary assist on Ellis’ third period goal. He has points (1-2-3) in consecutive games.
• Max Ellis scored the game-winning goal at 5:07 of the third period and earlier had the secondary assist on Abramov’s second period goal.
• William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Gaudette’s goal and the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s goal, both in the first period. He has assists (3) in consecutive games.
• Dryden Hunt had the secondary assist on Gaudette’s first period goal. He has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games.
• Noel Hoefenmayer picked up the primary assist on Abruzzese’s first period goal. He has 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 44 games this season.
• Zach O’Brien registered the primary assist on Abramov’s second period goal and the secondary assist on Ellis’ third period goal. He has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in four games with the Marlies.
• Keith Petruzzelli stopped 26 of 29 shots he faced. He is 10-5-0 this season with a 3.21 goals against average and a 0.894 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies have not recorded three consecutive losses this season and have only recorded back-to-back losses twice this season.
• Toronto has not lost a Saturday road game this season.
• The Marlies went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 24-5-2-1 when scoring on the power play and 16-4-2-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto and Charlotte both had 29 shots in all situations. Max Ellis led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 3-0 when recording the same number of shots as their opponent.
• The Marlies are 3-0-1-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and 1-0-1-0 against the Charlotte Checkers.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:
It was definitely a lot better (than last night’s game). Our team was committed to sticking with our process, making sure that we utilize our forechecking game to control things and play in the half-ice. Overall, our legs were better, our defending was better. Special teams were good. Penalty kill was phenomenal. Some really big blocks by Pietroniro, Miller, Johnstone. Even Abruzzese five-on-five had a block and also had a goal tonight and then Keith Petruzzelli, phenomenal game by him. The last game he got in for us, it had been a long time since he had played and it was really good to see him rebound today and put that game together for us.

On the tight ending to the game:
It’s going to be really important that our team understands, feels and experiences these moments more and more towards the tail end of this season. Because if we’re fortunate enough to make the postseason, we’re going to have to be able to stay calm, we’re going to have to make sure that we continue to execute. Our plan in these moments when the building is getting loud and you’re on the road, as much as we don’t want to give up those goals and have it as close as it was, it’s still good reps for us to be in these one-goal games.

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MAX ELLIS (1 GOAL, 1 ASSIST)

On the tight ending to the game:
It was just the same message as the first two periods – just play our game and keep putting the pucks deep and stay with it. Don’t get down on what happened and just trust in each other.

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ADAM GAUDETTE (1 GOAL)

On tonight’s game:

We were more structured today. We played into our systems better and we were all on the same page out there. We don’t want to lose to a team two nights in a row and we had a much better night tonight. Keith played great in net and it was an all around good effort by everybody.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 13 vs. Manitoba – 7:00 p.m.
February 15 vs. Utica – 11:00 a.m.
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)