Toronto Marlies Top Utica in Saturday Night Matchup

The Toronto Marlies won 2-1 on the road against the Utica Comets on Saturday night.

In the first, both teams exchanged chances, but the goalies stood tall to keep the score tied at zero heading into the second.

Halfway through the second, Marshall Rifai scored his first professional goal and opened the scoring for the Marlies at 7:57, giving them a 1-0 lead heading into the third.

In the third, Adam Gaudette extended the Marlies lead to two with a goal on the power play at 12:58. Utica responded shortly after with a late power play goal by Tyce Thompson at 15:19.

Dylan Ferguson stood tall in the Marlies crease stopping 25 shots.

The Marlies continue their Royal Road Trip on November 2nd when they face off against the Rocket at 7:00pm.

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: M. Rifai (1) (C. Douglas), A. Gaudette (3) PP (W. Villeneuve, M. Abramov)
Goaltender: D. Ferguson (24/25) W

Utica: T. Thompson (2) PP (J. Dugan, N. Foote)
Goaltender: N. Daws (23/25) L

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ON THE SCORESHEET

• Marshall Rifai put the Marlies on the board at 7:57 of the second period. This was his first career professional goal. He has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) through six games.
• Adam Gaudette scored the game-winning goal at 12:58 of the third period on the power play. He has four points (3 goals, 1 assists) in six games this season.
• Curtis Douglas had the lone assist on Rifai’s second period goal.
• William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Gaudette’s third period goal. He has assists (2) in consecutive games.
• Mikhail Abramov registered the secondary assist on Gaudette’s third period goal. He has assists (3) in consecutive games.
• Dylan Ferguson stopped 24 of 25 shots he faced. This was his first win with the Marlies.

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TEAM NOTES

• The Marlies went 1-for-2 on the penalty kill and 1-for-2 on the power play. The Marlies have picked up a power play goal in each of their first seven games of the season. This is the first time Toronto has recorded a seven-game power play goal streak to begin a season. Toronto is 5-2-0-0 when scoring on the power play and 2-2-0-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.
• Toronto and Utica both had 25 shots in all situations. Matthew Hellickson, Noel Hoefenmayer and Marshall Rifai led the Marlies with three shots on goal. Toronto is 1-0-0-0 when recording the same number of shots as their opponent.
• The Marlies are 4-1-0-0 against North Division opponents and 1-0-0-0 against the Utica Comets.
• Toronto finished the month of October 5-2-0-0. The club has outscored their opponents 22-18 and outshot their opponents 230-182.
• The Marlies are on an eight-game road trip and return to Toronto on Nov. 19 at Scotiabank Arena.

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POSTGAME QUOTES

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HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On the young defence corps:

It was really impressive how the whole D-corp played tonight – how physical they were, how connected they were as pairs on the ice everywhere they went. It was an impressive game. You can tell that there’s some healthy competition right now in our lineup with guys coming in and out and the guys that we had in today were really hungry and did a great job.

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On Dylan Ferguson:
He was unbelievable. He made some huge saves for us. It wasn’t an easy building or team to play against today. Really through training camp and this part of the season, he hasn’t had a lot of minutes in net to get comfortable for his start of the year. It was a really good job by him, solidifying himself and having a good game.

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DYLAN FERGUSON (FIRST WIN AS A MARLIE, 24 SAVES)

On tonight’s game:
It was a great game all around. It’s tough to play three games in four nights anywhere in any league. Every team’s going to come every night with all they’ve got. I’m really grateful for how the guys played in front of me. Just feels great to get the win out of the way here.

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MARSHALL RIFAI (FIRST PROFESSIONAL GOAL)

On his first professional goal:

The puck kind of came back to me and then Douglas did a really good job of getting out in front of the goalie’s eyes and I threw one on net and he couldn’t see anything past Dougie so, it went in which was nice.

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On tonight’s game:

I think our group’s really coming together. We got contributions from everyone up and down the line up and that’s how you want to win.

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UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time

November 2 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
November 4 at Laval – 7:00 p.m.
November 5 at Belleville – 7:05 p.m.
November 11 at Grand Rapids – 7:00 p.m.
November 12 at Grand Rapids – 7:00 p.m.