Toronto Marlies Wrap Up Weekend With A Win In Milwaukee

The Toronto Marlies closed out their weekend with a 6-5 win over the Milwaukee Admirals on Saturday night. The Marlies improve to 11-3-1-0 on the road and currently lead the Eastern Conference in road wins with eleven.  

In the first period, it was Milwaukee who got on the board first with an early goal by Phil Tomasino at 1:08. Shortly after, Toronto responded with three unanswered goals. Logan Shaw earned his ninth of the season with a shorthanded goal at 4:42 to tie the game at one. Later, Noel Hoefenmayer scored at 8:33 in the frame, and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored 22 seconds later at 8:55 to to make it 3-1. Milwaukee responded with two quick goals by Kiefer Sherwood at 12:10 and Tim Schaller at 12:27 to once again tie the game at three apiece. Before the period was over, Joseph Blandisi scored shorthanded at 16:50 to give Toronto a 4-3 lead heading into the second.  

In the second, Nick Abruzzese extended Toronto’s lead with a goal at 6:07 to make it 5-3. He currently leads all Marlies rookies in goals (7) and points (7-9-16). Later, John Leonard scored at 13:24 to keep the Admirals within one after 40 minutes of play.  

Late in the third, Graham Slaggert potted the empty netter at 19:07 to earn his third goal of the season and make it 6-4. Milwaukee made a late push with a goal by Jimmy Huntington at 19:40 to stay within one, but it was not enough to secure the win.  

The Marlies return to action on December 20th at home against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Puck drop is 7:00pm.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: L. Shaw (9) SH (Unassisted), N. Hoefenmayer (7) (M. Rifai, G. Slaggert), S. Der-Arguchintsev (8) (J. Blandisi), J. Blandisi (7) SH (Unassisted), N. Abruzzese (7) (M. Abramov, J. Blandisi), G. Slaggert (3) EN (Unassisted)
Goaltender: E. Källgren (24/29) W

Milwaukee: P. Tomasino (7) (A. Wilsby, J. Huntington), K. Sherwood (10) (S. Stastney, C. Schneider), T. Schaller (4) (Z. Sanford), J. Leonard (3) PP (M. Del Gaizo, K. Sherwood), J. Huntington (4) (M. Del Gaizo, T. Novak)
Goaltender: Y. Askarov (2/6), D. Cooley (12/13) L

‍

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Logan Shaw put the Marlies on the board with a shorthanded goal at 4:42 of the first period. This was Shaw’s second shorthanded goal of the season. He has 29 points (9 goals, 20 assists) in 26 games this season.
• Noel Hoefenmayer scored at 8:33 of the first period. He has points (2-1-3) in three consecutive games. He is tied for third amongst active defenceman in points (7-14-21) through 23 games this season.
• Semyon Der-Arguchintsev registered the primary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has 22 points (7 goals, 15 assists) in 23 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi scored shorthanded at 16:50 of the first period. He also picked up the primary assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s first period goal and the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. He has points (4-4-8) in four consecutive games. Blandisi has 15 points (7 goals, 8 assists) in 23 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese scored at 6:07 of the second period. He leads all Marlies rookies in goals (7) and points (7-9-16).
• Graham Slaggert scored on the empty net at 19:07 of the third period and earlier had the secondary assist on Hoefenmayer’s first period goal. He has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in 23 games this season.
• Marshall Rifai recorded the primary assist on Hoefenmayer’s first period goal. He has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 25 games this season.
• William Villeneuve registered the secondary assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s first period goal. He has seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) in 18 games this season.
• Mikhail Abramov recorded the primary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. He has eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 14 games this season.
• Erik Källgren stopped 24 of 29 shots he faced.

TEAM NOTES

• Toronto is 11-3-1-0 on the road and leads the Eastern Conference in road wins (11).
• The Marlies recorded two shorthanded goals (L. Shaw, J. Blandisi) in the first period. Toronto has four shorthanded goals this season.
• The Marlies went 5-for-6 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 3-2-0-0 when not scoring on the power play and 7-4-1-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Milwaukee had a 29-20 edge in shots in all situations. Logan Shaw led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 8-4-1-1 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 4-1-1-0 against Central Division opponents and are 1-0-0-0 against the Milwaukee Admirals. Toronto is 9-11-3-2 all-time against Milwaukee and the club’s last win in Milwaukee was on April 17, 2015 (3-2 OT/W).

‍

POSTGAME QUOTE

‍

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:

It was a weird, weird game. It lacked a lot of flow, weird bounces all over the rink. Second game in two nights in buildings we haven’t played in yet against teams we haven’t played. I just thought our team did a really good job of responding again after being scored against first. We got a good lead towards the tail end of the first period. Obviously, they respond. There was a lot of penalties in the game. Penalty kill did a great job. Källgren fought through what was a hectic, strange game and he just seemed to get more confident and more poised as the game went on which was a really good job by him. And our D, we lost one and then Hoefenmayer got into his fight and we lost him for stretch there, we even had Johnstone go back on D and play a couple of shifts. Just really proud of the guys to battle through that adverse game and find a way to win.

‍

JOSEPH BLANDISI (1 GOAL, 2 ASSISTS)

On Erik Källgren:

It’s impressive by Källy, the personality that he has to stay calm in there. I’m sure he wasn’t happy with his first period but he’s able to pull himself together and give us a great two periods to help us win that game. Any time you’ve got a goaltender that has that type of mindset and strong mentality, it gives you a chance to win every night.

‍

GRAHAM SLAGGERT (GAME-WINNING GOAL)

On tonight’s game:

We were just trying to have fun with it and stay composed throughout the whole thing. There was a lot of highs and lows but we had a really good bench tonight. Guys were super positive, just talking to each other throughout the whole thing.

‍

On what makes them a great road team:
Our consistency, just how hard we are to play against. Our special teams have been awesome this year, especially down the stretch our PK has taken a step. We just have a really close group so, we love winning together and for each other.

‍

UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

December 20 vs. WB/Scranton – 7:00 p.m.
December 26 vs. Belleville – 1:30 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)
December 28 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
December 31 vs. Rochester – 4:00 p.m.
January 3 vs. Utica – 7:00 p.m.