MARLIES 3, LAVAL 2: “I thought our penalty kill did a great job. Overall, our D-corps had a much better game today. They really steered the ship for us and they kind of got things going in the right direction. When we transition the way we can at times and they’re leading that for us, we’re a hard team to beat.” –GREG MOORE.

TORONTO MARLIES (19-8-2-1 – 41 Points) vs. LAVAL ROCKET (15-14-3-1 – 34 Points)

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2019

 123OTFINAL
TORONTO030–3
LAVAL020–2

GAME SUMMARY    |    GAME SHEET |    PHOTOS    |      SCRUMS

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: P. Aberg (12) PP (J. Bracco, T. Liljegren), K. Kossila (1) (M. Marchment, M. Read), J. Duszak (1) (D. Archibald)
Goaltender: K. Kaskisuo (32/34)

Laval: E. McEneny (1) PP (A. Alain, O. Leskinen), Y. Veilleux (2) (G. Olofsson, M. McCarron)
Goaltender: K. Kinkaid (16/19), C. Primeau (2/2)

ON THE SCORESHEET

  • Pontus Aberg opened the scoring on the power play at 7:35 of the second period. This is Aberg’s fourth power play goal of the season. Aberg leads the Marlies in points (12-15-27).
  • Kalle Kossila scored at 7:58 of the second period. This is Kossila’s first goal of the season. He has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in three games
  • Joseph Duszak scored at 8:34 of the second period. This was Duszak’s first regular season career AHL goal. Duszak has 27 points (8 goals, 19 assists) in 26 games with Newfoundland (ECHL) this season.
  • Jeremy Bracco registered the primary assist on Aberg’s second period power play goal. Bracco is tied for fourth in assists (22) overall. Bracco has four assists in his last three games.
  • Timothy Liljegren recorded the secondary assist on Aberg’s second period power play goal. Liljegren has four points (1 goal, 3 assists) in his last three games. Liljegren has 17 points (3 goals, 14 assists) in 27 games, matching a career high in points in a single season.
  • Mason Marchment collected the primary assist on Kossila’s second period goal. Marchment has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in nine games.
  • Matt Read had the secondary assist on Marchment’s second period goal. Read has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in 23 games this season.
  • Darren Archibald picked up the lone assist on Duszak’s second period goal. Archibald has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
  • Kasimir Kaskisuo stopped 32 of the 34 shots he faced. He is 5-0-0 when making 30 or more saves. Kaskisuo is now 10-3-1-0 on the season with a .916 Save Percentage and a 2.43 Goals Against Average. This was Kaskisuo’s first start against Laval this season.

OF NOTE…

  • The Marlies scored their three second period goals in 59 seconds.
  • Toronto scored their fastest consecutive goals of the season (23 seconds – P. Aberg, K. Kossila) in the second period.
  • Toronto was 3-for-4 on the penalty kill and was 1-for-1 on the power play. Toronto has scored eight power play goals in their last six games.
  • Laval had a 34-21 edge in shots in all situations. Kenny Agostino, Joseph Duszak and Nic Petan led the Marlies with three shots on goal.
  • The Marlies are 9-4-2-1 against North Division opponents and are 2-0-0-1 against the Laval Rocket. The previous two games this season have gone to extra time, with a 6-5 shootout loss in Laval and a 2-1 overtime win in Toronto.

REGULAR SEASON LEADERS

  • Goals: K. Agostino (16)
  • Assists: J. Bracco (22)
  • Points: P. Aberg (27)
  • PPG: P. Aberg,K. Agostino,E. Korshkov (4)
  • Shots: P. Aberg (77)
  • +/-:  B. Harpur (+13)
  • PIMS: G. Wilson (58)

RECORD WHEN…

  • Toronto is 14-3-1-1 when scoring first.
  • The Marlies are 5-3-0-0 when tied after the first period and 12-0-0-0 when leading after the second period.
  • Toronto is 12-4-1-1 when outshot by their opponent.
  • The Marlies are 4-1-0-0 in Friday games and are 5-5-0-0 in December.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

  • Darren Archibald has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.
  • Jeremy Bracco has assists (4) in three consecutive games.

MARLIES UPDATES.

  • Kevin Gravel (illness) did not dress for tonight’s game against Laval.
  • Egor Korshkov (lower leg laceration) did not dress for tonight’s game against Laval. Heleft Toronto’s game against San Antonio on December 8 in the first period and did not return.
  • Kristians Rubins (concussion) did not dress for tonight’s game against Laval. He left Toronto’s game against Belleville on December 21 in the first period and did not return.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

  • December 27: Recalled forward Adam Brooks from loan by Toronto (NHL).
  • December 27: Recalled defenceman Martin Marincin from loan by Toronto (NHL).
  • December 27: Reassigned defenceman Mac Hollowell by Toronto (NHL) from Newfoundland (ECHL).
  • December 23: Returned forward Jeremy Bracco from loan by Toronto (NHL).
  • December 23: Recalled forward Jeremy Bracco on loan from Toronto (NHL).

   POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH GREG MOORE

On today’s game:
Not the start that we wanted. I thought it was very similar to yesterday’s game’s (against Belleville) first period. We gained traction in the second and got things moving pretty quickly there but there were some things about the first, I thought we were playing too slow, I think we need to transition the game a bit faster and the guys came and did that in the second.

On the three quick goals by Toronto in the second period (59 seconds):
I would assume momentum building for us. It gets the other team on their heels a bit, plants the seed of doubt a little bit. Towards the end of the second, they got their momentum back, wanted to make sure we came out in the third and squash that and gain back the control that we had in the second. I thought our penalty kill did a great job. Overall, our D-corps had a much better game today. They really steered the ship for us and they kind of got things going in the right direction. When we transition the way we can at times and they’re leading that for us, we’re a hard team to beat.

On what the work by Nick Baptiste and Garrett Wilson on the penalty kill tells us about the team:
The depth of character in our room – that’s the guys that care, that’s the guys that’ll work hard, they’ll do anything for the team. Those penalty kills were huge for us and they were competing and doing everything needed.

On Kasimir Kaskisuo’s performance:
It’s big. It gives our team confidence to make plays. Every time you have a stable goaltender back there, it allows the guys to breath a bit, knowing you can rely on him. He came up huge for us today. He made some really big saves and gave us a chance to win.


NEXT GAME:

December 28 at Laval – 3:00 p.m. ET
December 31 vs Charlotte – 3:00 p.m. ET
January 3 at Syracuse – 7:00 p.m. ET
January 4 vs Rochester – 4:00 p.m. ET
January 5 vs Lehigh Valley – 4:00 p.m. ET

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