Game Recap

The Toronto Marlies suffered their first regulation loss of 2018 on Friday night, ending a franchise-best sixteen game point streak.

Facing another tough Battle of Ontario matchup, the Marlies were unable to erase a two-goal deficit in the third, losing 3-1 to the Senators.

Tyler Randell opened the scoring for Belleville midway through the first, the only goal in the opening period. Ben Sexton added another for the Senators in the second, as the Marlies trailed 2-0 heading into the third in a tight-checking, defensive contest.

Rinat Valiev put the Marlies on the board with over seven minutes left to go in the third, unwinding on a one-timer after a cross-ice pass from Andreas Johnsson. Miro Aaltonen had the secondary assist on Valiev’s fourth of the season.

The Marlies maintained the strong pressure in the late minutes of the game but were unable to find the back of the net. Belleville added an empty net goal in the dying seconds to make it a 3-1 final.

After Friday’s final, the Marlies move to 37-12-0-1 on the season while Belleville improves to 21-28-1-3.

Valiev’s goal extends his point streak to four games, scoring three times in that span and adding an assist.

Johnsson extended his point streak to seven games with the assist.

Garret Sparks made 22 saves for the Marlies.

The Marlies will return to action tomorrow night in Laval when they take on the Rocket. Puck drop is at 7:00.

Game Notes

GAME SUMMARY | GAME SHEET

SCORING SUMMARY

Toronto: R. Valiev (4) (A. Johnsson, M. Aaltonen)

Goaltender: G. Sparks (22/24)

Belleville: T. Randell (3) (A. Englund, M. Reinhart), B. Sexton (4) (F. Chlapik, E. Burgdoerfer), J. O’Brien (13) EN (J. Rodewald)

Goaltender: D. Taylor (25/26)

FROM THE SCORESHEET

Rinat Valiev scored Toronto’s lone goal at 12:47 of the third period. Valiev has recorded four points (3 goals, 1 assist) in his last four games.

Andreas Johnsson registered the primary assist on Valiev’s third period goal. This is Johnsson’s seventh consecutive game with a point (5 goals, 9 assists).

Miro Aaltonen recorded the secondary assist on Valiev’s third period goal. Aaltonen has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his last five games.

Garret Sparks stopped 22 of 24 shots. Sparks is now 20-7-0-1 on the season with a .939 Save Percentage and a 1.73 Goals Against Average.

NOTABLES

This was Toronto’s first regulation loss since Dec. 29, 2017 and the team’s first loss on the road in regulation since Dec. 27, 2017. The Marlies had earned 31 points over 16 games with a record of 15-0-0-1 which began with a 5-1 win against Belleville on Dec. 31, 2017.

Toronto went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 0-for-3 on the power play.

Toronto had a 26-25 edge in shots in all situations.

Chris Mueller led the Marlies with four shots on goal.

The Marlies are 27-7-0-0 against North Division opponents this season and 5-2-0-0 against the Belleville Senators. The Marlies have outscored the Senators 24-12 with five games left in the season’s series.

TEAM LEADERS

Goals: A. Johnsson (22)

Assists: C. Mueller (22)

Points: A. Johnsson (43)

PPG: A. Johnsson (6), C. Mueller (6)

Shots: K. Rychel (107)

+/-: B. Smith (+28)

PIMS: A. Nielsen (102)

POSTGAME QUOTES

On tonight’s game:

It was apparent we were sleepwalking right from the start of this one here. The whole game, it was a snoozer. There was no offence going either way. It just felt like one of those nights right from the start. It felt like one of these weeks for us, frankly. We could kind of see this coming. We just have to find a way to dig in and be better here. We just didn’t generate nearly enough offence. We only gave up four scoring chances at even strength today. Last time we were in here last week, we gave up 20 so I don’t know what to make of that but it’s just probably an indication of the fact that the game was very much a snoozer.

– Head coach Sheldon Keefe

NEXT GAME:

February 17 at Laval – 7:00 p.m. ET

February 19 vs Hershey – 3:00 p.m. ET (Air Canada Centre)

February 21 vs Binghamton – 11:00 a.m. ET

February 23 at Rochester – 7:05 p.m. ET

February 24 vs Rochester – 4:00 p.m. ET

Game Preview

The Toronto Marlies will hit the road in search of an eighth straight victory on Friday, when they take on the Belleville Senators.

Heading into their 50th game of the season, the Marlies lead the North Division with a record of 37-11-0-1. Against divisional opponents this season, the Marlies are 27-6-0-0 and have won five of six against the Senators.

Belleville holds a 20-28-1-3 record this season and have lost three straight games.

The two sides met most recently last Friday in a 7-4 win for the Marlies with Mason Marchment and Miro Aaltonen each scoring a pair of goals.

Andreas Johnsson had three assists in that game and currently leads the Marlies with eight points (3G, 5A) in six games against the Senators. Kerby Rychel and Chris Mueller each have seven points (2G, 5A) in the meetings against Belleville so far and will look to continue building on that momentum tonight.

Johnsson leads the team in scoring overall with 22 goals and 42 points on the season.

At the other end, Francis Perron and Max Reinhart each have three points against the Marlies, leading the Senators in that stat.

Max McCormick leads the Senators in scoring with 27 points (8G, 19A) this season.

Puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:00 and fans can tune in on AHL Live and Marlies Radio.

Follow us on Twitter for pre- and post-game coverage, as well as live updates from Yardmen Arena.

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