Toronto Marlies Fall To Grand Rapids Griffins In Overtime

The Grand Rapids Griffins defeated the Toronto Marlies 5-4 in Overtime on Friday night in the first half of a back-to-back. The Griffins improve to 6-6-0-0, while the Marlies fall to 8-2-1-0.  

In the first period, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev opened the scoring at 6:11 to give the Marlies the early lead. Shortly after, Pontus Holmberg scored on the power-play at 13:15 to extend the lead to two. In the final minutes of the period, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev potted his second of the night on the power-play to give the visiting team a 3-0 lead heading into the second. With this goal, Toronto matches the all-time franchise record for consecutive games with a power-play goal.

Halfway through the second, Grand Rapids responded with a goal by Joel L’Esperance at 14:27 to keep them within two. Shortly after, William Villeneuve scored at 15:35 to earn his first professional goal.  

In the third, the home team kept pressing. Pontus Andreasson and Jared McIsaac both scored to keep the Griffins within one. Pontus Andreasson added another goal on the power-play to send the game to Overtime.  

In the extra frame, Cross Hanas scored at 1:04 to give Grand Rapids the win.  

The two teams meet again on Saturday for the second half of a back-to-back in Grand Rapids. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: S. Der-Arguchintsev (2) (M. Hollowell), P. Holmberg (1) PP (S. Der-Arguchintsev, W. Villeneuve), S. Der-Arguchintsev (3) PP (P. Holmberg, D. McKay), W. Villeneuve (1) (L. Shaw, J. Anderson)
Goaltender: D. McKay (28/33) OT/L

Grand Rapids: J. L’Esperance (5) (T. Spezia, A. Johansson), P. Andreasson (1) (C. Hanas), J. McIssac (1) (D. Shine, K. Criscuolo), P. Andreasson (2) PP (C. Hanas, T. Hirose), C. Hanas (6) (P. Andreasson)
Goaltender: J. Olkinuora (20/24) W

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Semyon Der-Arguchintsev opened the scoring at 6:11 and added a power play goal at 19:07, both in the first period. He also had the primary assist on Holmberg’s first period goal which extend his League-leading assist streak to seven games.
• Pontus Holmberg scored on the power play at 13:15 of the first period and later added the primary assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s second goal of the first period.
• William Villeneuve scored at 15:35 of the second period and earlier had the secondary assist on Holmberg’s first period goal. This was his first career professional goal.
• Mac Hollowell had the lone assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s opening goal of the first period.
• Logan Shaw recorded the primary assist on Villeneuve’s first period goal. He has recorded points (5-5-10) in four consecutive games. He is tied for the league lead in points (6-9-15).
• Joey Anderson registered the secondary assist on Villeneuve’s second period goal.
• Dryden McKay stopped 28 of 33 shots he faced in his first career AHL game. He had the secondary assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s second goal of the first period.

TEAM NOTES

• This was Toronto’s third overtime game of the season (2-1).
• The Marlies went 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and 2-for-5 on the power play. Toronto is 8-2-1-0 when scoring on the power play and 4-2-1-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto has recorded a power play goal (16) in each of their first 11 games of the season, extending a franchise record to open the season. This also matches the all-time franchise record for consecutive games with a power play goal. The team’s power play is first overall in the league (32.7).
• Grand Rapids had a 33-24 edge in shots in all situations. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 4-1-1-0 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 1-1-1-0 against Central Division opponents and 1-1-1-0 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. Grand Rapids has outscored Toronto 11-10 through three games.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:
(We had a) really strong start. We came out, our process was in place, played a way that was really hard to play against. As the game went on, started to get a little bit careless with the puck. Some turnovers in the middle of the rink, breakout turnovers. We just need to do a better job of communicating and make sure that we care for our pass play.

On Dryden McKay in his first AHL game:

He did a good job. It wasn’t the best of circumstances today where he wasn’t expecting to play and he gets in there and he battled for our team and gave us a chance to win. Ultimately, it was our care for the puck as a team that created the chances against.

On William Villeneuve and his first professional goal:

He’s doing a great job. Every time he gets in and plays in a game, he’s adapting, getting stronger. He’s a quick study, he’s figuring it out. Really top-end play there to have the poise to know that there’s no more back pressure or that he has time to cut up and get a shot off and let the pressure go by him.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

November 12 at Grand Rapids – 7:00 p.m.
November 18 at Belleville – 7:05 p.m.
November 19 vs. Abbotsford – 1:30 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
November 20 vs. Abbotsford – 4:00 p.m.
November 23 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.