Marlies News

The Toronto Marlies defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 4-3 in overtime on Sunday evening. Toronto has won five in a row.

In the first period, the Marlies struck first as Kieffer Bellows scored his eighth of the season at 13:27.

In the second period, Nick Abruzzese finished off a great passing play to extend the Marlies lead to two. With an assist on Abruzzese's goal, Alex Steeves extends his point streak to 15 games. But, Hartford responded with three goals before the period was over to take a one-goal lead into the third.

In the third, Zach Solow tied the game at three apiece with his second of the year. 60 minutes wasn't enough and overtime was needed. In the extra frame, Topi Niemelä scored just 54 seconds into the frame to send the Marlies home with the victory. Niemelä has now scored in three straight games.

Keith Petruzzelli stood tall in the Marlies crease, stopping 28 of the 31 shots he faced in the victory.

The Marlies return to action on Wednesday, December 20th when they host the Providence Bruins. Puck drop is at 7:00pm on the Toronto Maple Leafs app and AHLTV.

Game notes:

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: K. Bellows (8) (D. Ovchinnikov), N. Abruzzese (5) (A. Steeves, D. Gambrell), Z. Solow (2) (J. Blandisi), T. Niemelä (5) (N. Abruzzese, K. Petruzzelli)Goaltender: K. Petruzzelli (28/31) W

Hartford: M. Rempe (4) (M. Pekar, B. Trivigno), A. Belzile (9) (R. Nash, B. Othmann), A. Edstrom (8) (K. Henriksson, C. Mackey)Goaltender: D. Garand (20/24) OT/L

ON THE SCORESHEET

Kieffer Bellows opened the scoring at 13:27 of the first period. He has points (2-1-3) in consecutive games. Bellows has 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists) in 16 games with the Marlies this season.Nick Abruzzese scored at 5:29 of the second period and later added the primary assist on Niemelä’s overtime goal. He has points (2-4-6) in three consecutive games. Abruzzese has 20 points (5 goals, 16 assists) in 23 games this season.Zach Solow scored at 5:11 of the third period. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) in 18 games this season.Topi Niemelä scored the game-winning goal 54 seconds into overtime. This was his first career AHL game-winning goal. He has 15 points (5 goals, 10 assists) in 21 games this season.Dmitry Ovchinnikov recorded the primary assist on Bellows’ first period goal. He has nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) in 15 games this season.Alex Steeves had the primary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. He extended his AHL leading point streak to 15 games (11-10-21). Steeves has 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) in 18 games this season with the Marlies.Dylan Gambrell registered the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s second period goal. He has points (2-3-5) in consecutive games. Gambrell has 15 points (4 goals, 11 assists) in 23 games this season.Joseph Blandisi picked up the lone assist on Solow’s third period goal. He has 17 points (5 goals, 12 assists) in 22 games this season.Keith Petruzzelli stopped 28 of 31 shots he faced and added the secondary assist on Abruzzese’s overtime goal.TEAM NOTES

Toronto is 2-3 in overtime games this season.The Marlies went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 7-5-1-0 when not scoring on the power play and 5-3-0-1 when not allowing a goal on the penalty kill.Hartford had a 31-24 edge in shots in all situations. Kieffer Bellows and Zach Solow led the Marlies with four shots on goal. Toronto is 4-2-1-0 when outshot by their opponent.The Marlies are 3-2-0-0 against Atlantic Division opponents and are 1-0-0-0 against the Wolf Pack this season.RECORD WHEN

Scoring first 11-0-3-1Leading after 1st 11-1-1-0Trailing after 2nd 2-6-1-0On the road 8-4-2-0December 4-2-0-0Sunday 4-1-1-0

MARLIES LEADERS *Amongst active AHL players

Goals 11 (A. Steeves)Assists 15 (N. Abruzzese)
Points 23 (A. Steeves)PPG 3 (D. Ovchinnikov)Shots 59 (L. Shaw)+/- +13 (J. Blandisi)PIMS 46 (K. Clifford)

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN

On tonight’s game:Once we got that two-goal lead, I knew we were going to get a push from them and then we got a response from our group being down a goal going into the third. It was a gutsy win and well deserved on our part.

On his team’s performance over this weekend:I like where we’re at. I like when we’re playing we’re doing things structurally. We’re stopping, we’re starting, our details are where they need to be. I like our group. We’ve got four lines and six D and two goalies that all can play at this level and be effective. It’s fortunate for us as coaches to be able to have that but it’s a huge four points.

KEITH PETRUZZELLI (28 SAVES)

On his overtime performance:Anytime as a goalie you can influence the game in a big way always feels great. I saw that puck going sideways and I had to get over there. Luckily I did and I tried to kick it forward and get it up as far as I could so the boys could take advantage of the opportunity.

On the team’s performance over this weekend:It’s huge for the boys. We’re turning it around right now. We just keep building. We just keep getting better every day, every game. It’s a fun club to be a part of and I think the sky’s the limit.

ZACH SOLOW (1 GOAL)

On the team’s performance in overtime:As soon as KP made that amazing save, saw the rush break out and I knew the boys were scoring.

On the team’s resilience:When a team comes out and they score three goals in kind of a flurry and take the lead at home, it’s all about your group and we rely on our leaders. We came out in the third period and we knew we were winning that game, we truly believed we were going to win that game and that was the result we got.

UPCOMING GAMES:*All times Eastern Standard Time

December 20 vs. Providence – 7:00 p.m.December 22 at Belleville – 7:00 p.m.December 26 vs. Belleville – 2:00 p.m. (ScotiaBank Arena)December 27 at Cleveland – 7:00 p.m.December 30 vs. Belleville – 4:00 p.m.

Game Recap