Toronto Marlies Win 2nd Half Of Back-To-Back vs. Laval Rocket

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Laval Rocket 5-1 on Saturday afternoon to take both games in the back-to-back weekend series.

In the first period, Kieffer Bellows tallied his 20th goal of the season to give the Marlies a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

In the second period, Nick Abruzzese and Joseph Blandisi both scored power play goals and Josiah Slavin added another at even strength. Laval scored before the period was over, making it 4-1 for Toronto after 40.

In the third, Kieffer Bellows scored his 2nd of the game as Toronto went on to win 5-1. Dennis Hildeby stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced in the win.

The Marlies head back out on the road to face the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday night. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on AHLTV.

SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto: K. Bellows (20) (W. Villeneuve, M. Anderson), N. Abruzzese (9) (J. Blandisi, A. Steeves), J. Blandisi (18) PP (L. Shaw, N. Abruzzese), J. Slavin (7) (R. Hirvonen, M. Anderson), K. Bellows (21) (T. Niemelä, G. Cruikshank)
Goaltender: D. Hildeby (22/23) W

Laval: P. Maillet (13) SH (J. Mysak, J. Dobes)
Goaltender: K. Kaskisuo (19/23) L, J. Dobes (12/13)

ON THE SCORESHEET

• Kieffer Bellows opened the scoring at 15:10 of the first period and scored at 4:21 of the third period. He has points (3-2-5) in four of his last five games. Bellows has 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists) in 32 games this season.
• Nick Abruzzese scored on the power play at 1:33 of the second period and later added the secondary assist on Blandisi’s second period power play goal. He has 35 points (9 goals, 26 assists) in 49 games this season.
• Joseph Blandisi scored on the power play at 4:24 of the second period and earlier registered the primary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. He has points (5-2)7 in four of his last five games. He is tied for fifth overall in points (18-27-45). Blandisi set career high in goals (18), assists (27) and points (45) in a single season.
• Josiah Slavin scored at 8:50 of the second period.
• William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Bellows’ first period power play goal. He has 21 points (2 goals, 19 assists) in 38 games this season.
• Matt Anderson had the secondary assists on Bellows’ first period goal and Slavin’s second period goal.
• Alex Steeves picked up the secondary assist on Shaw’s third period power play goal. He has 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 42 games this season.
• Logan Shaw had the primary assist on Blandisi’s second period power play goal. He has points (1-2-3) in consecutive games. Shaw has 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games this season.
• Roni Hirvonen recorded the primary assist on Slavin’s second period goal. He has five points (1 goal, 4 assists) in 14 games this season.
• Topi Niemelä picked up the primary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists) in 46 games this season.
• Grant Cruikshank registered the secondary assist on Bellows’ third period goal. He has three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in five games this season.
• Dennis Hildeby stopped 22 of 23 shots he faced. He is 3-0-0 against the Rocket this season.

TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 2-for-4 on the power play. Toronto is 15-6-5-2 when on the power play and 13-7-1-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto had a 36-23 edge in shots in all situations. Alex Steeves led the Marlies with nine shots on goal. Toronto is 15-11-5-2 when outshooting their opponent.
• Toronto is 9-11-6-2 against North Division opponents and are 4-2-0-0 against the Rocket this season.

RECORD WHEN

Scoring first                                        21-3-6-2
Leading after 1^st                                  13-2-3-0
Leading after 2^nd                                  17-1-3-0
On the road                                        14-7-2-2
February                                              5-2-2-1
Saturday                                              7-4-3-1

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals               21 (K. Bellows)
Assists            27 (J. Blandisi)
Points              45 (J. Blandisi)
PPG                 7 (J. Blandisi)
Shots               140 (L. Shaw)
+/-                    +18 (T. Miller)
PIMS                88 (Z. Solow)

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

February 28 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.
March 1 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m.
March 2 vs. Syracuse – 4:00 p.m.
March 6 vs. Belleville – 7:00 p.m.
March 8 at Utica – 7:00 p.m.

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