Toronto Marlies Top Syracuse Crunch In Divisional Matchup

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Syracuse Crunch 5-2 on Friday night. The Marlies improve to 11-6-0-0 against North Division opponents and lead the Eastern Conference in road wins with nine.  

In the first period, Syracuse opened the scoring with a goal by Alex Barré-Boulet at 7:10 to make it 1-0. Later, Toronto responded with two unanswered goals to take the lead. Alex Steeves scored at 10:37 in the frame to tie the game, and Joseph Blandisi scored on the power-play at 17:14 to make it 2-1 heading into the second.  

In the second, both teams exchanged chances but the goalies stood tall to keep the score 2-1 after 40 minutes of play.  

In the final frame, the goals kept coming. Early in the period, Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored at 2:49 to extend the Marlies lead to two. Later, Alex Steeves scored his ninth of the season at 15:55 to make it 4-1. Shortly after, Syracuse responded with a goal by Gemel Smith at 17:04 to keep the Crunch within two. But before the period was over, Joseph Blandisi potted the empty netter at 19:59 to make it 5-2 and secure the win.  

Keith Petruzzelli stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 34 of the 36 shots he faced.  

The Marlies return to action on December 10th against the Rochester Americans for their first Next Gen Game of the year. Puck drop is 4:00pm.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: A. Steeves (8) (L. Shaw, T. Miller), J. Blandisi (4) PP (A. Steeves, M. Abramov), S. Der-Arguchintsev (7) (N. Abruzzese, T. Miller), A. Steeves (9) EN (B. McMann, S. Der-Arguchintsev), J. Blandisi (5) EN (M. Johnstone)
Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (34/36) W

Syracuse: A. Barre-Boulet (6) (D. Raddysh, S. Day), G. Smith (8) (D. Raddysh, A. Barre-Boulet)
Goaltender: H. Alnefelt (23/26) L

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Alex Steeves put the Marlies on the board at 10:37 of the first period and added an empty net goal at 15:55 of the third period. He also had the primary assist on Blandisi’s first period power play goal. This was his third career three-point game. He has 23 points (9 goals, 14 assists) through 23 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi scored on the power play at 17:14 of the first period and on the empty net at 19:59 of the third period. This was his first power play goal of the season. He has nine points (5 goals, 4 assists) in 20 games this season.
• Semyon Der-Arguchintsev scored the game-winning goal at 2:49 of the third period. He has 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in 21 games this season.
• Logan Shaw picked up the primary assist on Steeves’ first period goal. He has points (1-6-7) in seven consecutive games. He is tied for fifth overall in points (8-18-26) in the League.
• Tommy Miller recorded the secondary assists on Steeves’ first period goal and Der-Arguchintsev’s third period goal. which were his first career AHL points. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) through 14 games with Newfoundland (ECHL).
  Mikhail Abramov had the secondary assist on Blandisi’s first period goal. He has seven points (1 goal, 6 assists) through 12 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese recorded the primary assist on Der-Arguchintsev’s third period goal. He has 13 points (8 goals, 5 assists) through 23 games this season.
• Bobby McMann registered the primary assist on Steeves’ third period empty net goal. He has points (1-2-3) in his last three games.
• Marc Johnstone recorded the primary assist on Blandisi’s third period goal. He has three assists through 20 games with the Marlies.
• Keith Petruzzelli stopped 34 of 36 shots he faced and is now 2-1-0 against Syracuse this season. He has posted an 8-4-0 record with a 3.10 goals against average and a 0.901 save percentage.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies last recorded two empty net goals on Nov. 25. Joseph Blandisi and Alex Steeves also scored both empty net goals against Cleveland.
• Toronto has the most road wins (9) in the Eastern Conference and have outscored their opponents 49-42.
• The Marlies went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill and 1-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 13-6-1-0 when scoring on the power play and 8-3-0-0 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Syracuse had a 36-28 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with six shots on goal. Toronto is 6-4-1-0 when outshot by their opponent.
• The Marlies are 11-6-0-0 against North Division opponents and are 3-2-0-0 against the Syracuse Crunch. Toronto has outscored Syracuse 18-16 through five games.

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POSTGAME QUOTE

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On tonight’s game:
Really proud of the group. So far this year, this is one of the better 60-minute total efforts we’ve had with our team. Special teams, we got one on the power play. Penalty kill did a great job shutting the door and five-on-five. Typically when we play these guys, there’s surges and moments in the game when you feel like it’s tough to get out of your end and the team did a really good job today of ending plays early in the defensive zone and finding exits.

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On the penalty kill:
(Assistant coach John) Snowden’s done a good job of pushing them to be better and finding another level. Their details are looking sharper, we look more connected out there. Special teams are such a big part of this game and that was an area that had to improve and now they’re helping us get the kills to win games that we need.

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KEITH PETRUZZELLI (34 SAVES)

On tonight’s game:

I thought it was a great performance all the way around for 60 minutes. We just kept getting better as the game went on which was great to see. The boys were great in front of me. Great penalty kill which was awesome to see. I think we’ve been really focused on that as a group and it was great to see results in that regard.

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On his performance this season:
My process has been great all year. I feel like I’ve played a consistent game pretty much every game this year. Obviously, we’ve had some results not go our way. (Goaltending coach Hannu) Toivonen and I just keep focusing on the process, keep focusing on the little details and the results will come as long as the process is good.

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On the team embracing the details:

I think it’s really important for us as a high talent team, a high skilled team. If we can focus on the little things and just work hard and do those little things, our talent and our skill will take over as we saw tonight.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

December 10 vs. Rochester – 4:00 p.m.
December 16 at Rockford – 7:00 p.m. (CST)
December 17 at Milwaukee – 6:00 p.m. (CST)
December 20 vs. WB/Scranton – 7:00 p.m.
December 26 vs. Belleville – 1:30 p.m. (Scotiabank Arena)