By Stan Smith
We reported earlier this week that the Toronto Marlies defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins 4-3 in an exciting come-back overtime win on Tuesday. (See Below)
Related: Marlies Midweek Report: Exciting Win Vs. Griffins
On Sunday afternoon, the well-rested Marlies took advantage of the tired Griffins’ team and defeated them 3-1 in Toronto. The Marlies were well-rested because they had not played since the Tuesday night game, while the Griffins played their third game in three days.
The Game Was Not as Exciting as the Previous Marlies/Griffins Game
This game was nowhere near as exciting as Tuesday night’s game was. The pace of the match was much slower. Although the shots were fairly even in the first two periods at 17-16 for the Griffins, the Marlies controlled the play and limited most of the Griffins’ shots to the outside.
The Marlies First Goal of the Game
Topi Niemela opened the scoring for Toronto at 10:21 of the first period. After losing control of the puck just inside the Grand Rapids blue line, Nick Abruzzese regrouped in the neutral zone before heading back up the ice. Abruzzese dished the puck off to Alex Steeves at the blue line on a give-and-go and then headed into the Griffins’ zone with speed.
Steeves gave the puck back to Abruzzese after he entered the zone. Using Dylan Gambrell, who was wide open to the left of Grand Rapids’ goalie Sebastion Cossa, as a decoy, Abruzzese instead dropped the puck back to Niemela in the middle of the zone. Niemela fired a shot over Cossa’s blocker into the net.
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The Marlies Second Goal of the Game & the Giffins’ Response
At 11:07 of the second period with the Marlies on the power play, Logan Shaw fed Abruzzese a pass up the middle as Abruzzese was splitting the defence at the Grand Rapids’ blue line. Abruzzese went forehand, backhand, forehand to beat the outstretched leg of Cossa. Pontus Holmberg picked up the secondary assist on the goal. That made the score 2-0 Toronto.
The Griffins made it 2-1 Toronto as they cashed in on a five-on-three chance with Niemela and Joseph Blandisi both in the penalty box. On the play, Joel L’Esperance one-timed the puck from a sharp angle bouncing it off of Marlies’ starter Dennis Hildeby’s shoulder into the net. Hildeby was a second slow at getting over the cover the shot.
The Griffins were gassed in the third period and didn’t mount much of a comeback effort. Instead, the Marlies shut them down and controlled the play throughout the period. The shots in the third period were nine to four for Toronto.
Holmberg put the game away at 9:56 of the third period with his sixth goal of the season as he cashed on a rebound off of a Ryan Tverberg shot. Tverberg was playing in his first game since suffering a lower-body injury on October 24th.
Marlies Notes for the Season
The two wins moved the Marlies into a three-way tie for third place in the AHL North Division with the Belleville Senators and the Rochester Americans. Their 10-7-4 record gives them 24 points in 21 games played on the season.
Pontus Holmberg (1 goal, 2 assists), Joseph Blandisi (1 goal, 2 assists), and Logan Shaw (3 assists) all had three points in the two games this week. Nick Abruzzese, Kyle Clifford, William Villeneuve, and Mikko Kokkonen all had two points.
Steeves continues to lead the team in goals with 11, and points with 20, in 16 games played. Abruzzese is second in points with 16. Shaw sits third with 15 points.
Dennis Hildeby started both games this week and picked up the two wins. He is second in Goals-Against-Average in the AHL with a 1.80 GAA and sits third in Save Percentage at .927. His record is only 5-3-2 despite only giving four goals once and three goals twice in his ten starts.
What’s Next?
After posting a 2-1 record in three games at home the Marlies head out on the road next weekend. Friday they visit Providence, Rhode Island, for a seven-o’clock game against the Providence Bruins. They have a three o’clock game against the Hartford Wolf Pack in Hartford on Sunday.
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