Game Recap:

The Marlies battled back on Wednesday night, picking up an overtime win over the Laval Rocket, improving to 31-19-6-3 on the season.

Laval’s Daniel Audette notched the opening goal just 1:05 into the first period to put the Marlies on their heels. Lukas Vejdemo recorded the lone assist on Audette’s 11th of the season. The Rocket held the Marlies to only five shots on goal in the opening frame and maintained their one-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

After a quick regroup, the Marlies came out ready to play in the second period. Timothy Liljegren got the Marlies on the board at 8:59 of the second, blasting home a one-timer from the top of the faceoff circle. Michael Carcone and Gabriel Gagne assisted on the power play goal. The Rocket were quick to restore their lead, scoring just over a minute later. Not to be outdone, the Marlies answered back at 13:39 as Jeremy Bracco picked up a loose puck in front of Rocket goaltender Charlie Lindgren and backhanded it up high into the net to even the score 2-2. Tanner MacMaster and Adam Brooks assisted on Bracco’s 16th of the season. Dmytro Timashov gave the Marlies their first lead of the night at 16:47, firing home an off-balanced shot as he fell to the ice. Josh Jooris and Rasmus Sandin assisted on Timashov’s ninth of the season. The Marlies held a 3-2 lead heading into the final frame.

The Rocket potted the equalizer at 14:26 of the third as Audette notched his second of the game. The score remained locked at 3-3 at the end of regulation.

The Marlies finished things off just 39 seconds into extra time as Jeremy Bracco held on to the puck and waited out Lindgren before setting up Rasmus Sandin infront of the empty cage. The overtime winner was Sandin’s sixth goal of the season.

The Marlies and Rocket will meet again on Friday night in Laval.

Game Notes:

GAME SUMMARY | GAME SHEET | PLAYOFF PRIMER

SCORING SUMMARY



Toronto: T. Liljegren (3) PP (M. Carcone, G. Gagne), J. Bracco (16) (T. MacMaster, A. Brooks), D. Timashov (J. Jooris, R. Sandin), R. Sandin (6) (J. Bracco)

Goaltender: M. Hutchinson (24/27)

Laval: D. Audette (11) (L. Vejderno), D. Sklenicka (3) (B. Lernout, J. Evans), D. Audette (12) (A. Belzile, J. Evans)

Goaltender: C. Lindgren (17/21)

ON THE SCORESHEET

Timothy Liljegren scored on the power play at 8:59 of the second period and led all Marlies with three shots on goal. Liljegren has nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 28 games.

scored on the power play at 8:59 of the second period and led all Marlies with three shots on goal. Liljegren has nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in 28 games. Jeremy Bracco scored at 13:39 of the second period and later added the lone assist on Sandin’s overtime goal. This is Bracco’s 17 th multipoint game of the season. Bracco leads the AHL in assists (43).

scored at 13:39 of the second period and later added the lone assist on Sandin’s overtime goal. This is Bracco’s 17 multipoint game of the season. Bracco leads the AHL in assists (43). Dmytro Timashov scored at 16:47 of the second period. Timashov has 39 points (9 goals, 30 assists) in 56 games this season. Timashov has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in his last eight games.

scored at 16:47 of the second period. Timashov has 39 points (9 goals, 30 assists) in 56 games this season. Timashov has eight points (4 goals, 4 assists) in his last eight games. Rasmus Sandin scored the game-winning goal 39 seconds into overtime. This was his first game-winning goal of the season. He earlier added the secondary assist on Timashov’s second period goal. Sandin has 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in 30 games this season. This is Sandin’s third multipoint game this season.

scored the game-winning goal 39 seconds into overtime. This was his first game-winning goal of the season. He earlier added the secondary assist on Timashov’s second period goal. Sandin has 14 points (6 goals, 8 assists) in 30 games this season. This is Sandin’s third multipoint game this season. Michael Carcone recorded the primary assist on Liljegren’s power play goal in the second period. Carcone has seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games.

recorded the primary assist on Liljegren’s power play goal in the second period. Carcone has seven points (2 goals, 5 assists) in his last seven games. Gabriel Gagne registered the secondary assist on Liljegren’s second period power play goal. Gagne’s recorded assists in consecutive games.

registered the secondary assist on Liljegren’s second period power play goal. Gagne’s recorded assists in consecutive games. Tanner MacMaster had the primary assist on Bracco’s second period goal. MacMaster has recorded points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.

had the primary assist on Bracco’s second period goal. MacMaster has recorded points (1-1-2) in consecutive games. Adam Brooks picked up the secondary assist on Bracco’s second period goal. Brooks has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four consecutive games. Brooks has 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) through 46 games this season.

picked up the secondary assist on Bracco’s second period goal. Brooks has four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in four consecutive games. Brooks has 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) through 46 games this season. Josh Jooris recorded the primary assist on Timashov’s second period goal. Jooris has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.

recorded the primary assist on Timashov’s second period goal. Jooris has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games. Michael Hutchinson stopped 24 of 27 shots he faced. Hutchinson with the Marlies is now 9-3-3-0 on the season with a .905 Save Percentage and a 2.76 Goals Against Average.

OF NOTE…



Toronto is 16-6-3-1 since January 4 and have outscored their opponents 85-71, facing 13 different teams. In 20 of 26 games, Toronto has earned a point (36). Toronto’s goals-for average is 3.26 and goals-against is now 2.57.

Toronto went 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and 1-for-3 on the power play. Toronto’s power play on the road is second (25.6%) in the AHL with the most power play goals-for (34).

Laval had a 27-21 edge in shots in all situations. Timothy Liljegren led the Marlies with three shots on goal.

led the Marlies with three shots on goal. The Marlies are 21-13-6-3 against North division opponents and 5-2-1-0 against the Laval Rocket. Toronto has gone to overtime with Laval four times this season, coming way with three wins. Toronto has outscored Laval 18-16 through eight games.



REGULAR SEASON LEADERS

Goals: C. Mueller (24)

C. Mueller (24) Assists: J. Bracco (43)*

J. Bracco (43)* Points: J. Bracco (59)

J. Bracco (59) PPG: C. Mueller (11)

C. Mueller (11) Shots: N. Baptiste, P. Engvall, C. Rosen (127)

N. Baptiste, P. Engvall, C. Rosen (127) +/-: C. Rosen (+10)

C. Rosen (+10) PIMS: M. Marchment (56)

*Indicates AHL-leading

RECORD WHEN…

The Marlies are 4-13-2-2 when trailing after the first period and 22-0-1-1 when leading after the second period.

Toronto is 14-9-2-2 when outshot by their opponent.

The Marlies are 5-4-0-1 in Wednesday games and are 2-0-0-0 in March.

CURRENT POINT STREAKS

Jeremy Bracco has points (1-4-5) in four consecutive games.

has points (1-4-5) in four consecutive games. Adam Brooks has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games.

has points (2-2-4) in four consecutive games. Gabriel Gagne has assists (2) in consecutive games.

has assists (2) in consecutive games. Josh Jooris has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.

has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games. Tanner MacMaster has points (1-1-2) in consecutive games.

MARLIES UPDATES

Andreas Borgman (concussion) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game following the first period on February 16 against Springfield.

(concussion) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game following the first period on February 16 against Springfield. Frank Corrado (knee) did not dress for tonight’s game. He has not appeared for Toronto since February 5 against Belleville.

(knee) did not dress for tonight’s game. He has not appeared for Toronto since February 5 against Belleville. Mason Marchment (collarbone) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game in the first period on February 1 against Laval and did not return.

(collarbone) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game in the first period on February 1 against Laval and did not return. Chris Mueller (hamstring) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game in the third period on February 10 against Belleville.

(hamstring) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game in the third period on February 10 against Belleville. Calle Rosen (foot) did not dress for tonight’s game. He left Toronto’s game in the third period on February 22 against Syracuse.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

March 3: Recalled defenceman Kristians Rubins from loan to Newfoundland (ECHL).

Recalled defenceman Kristians Rubins from loan to Newfoundland (ECHL). Feb. 28: Returned forward Josh Kestner on loan to Newfoundland (ECHL).

Returned forward Josh Kestner on loan to Newfoundland (ECHL). Feb. 28: Recalled defenceman Martin Marincin from loan by Toronto (NHL).

Recalled defenceman Martin Marincin from loan by Toronto (NHL). Feb. 28: Returned forward Zach O’Brien on loan to Newfoundland (ECHL).

POSTGAME QUOTES

HEAD COACH SHELDON KEEFE

On what Laval brings to the game:

They play really hard, they forecheck very well, they play tight defensively. They give you what you expect. We’re 60 games in here, they give up the least amount of shots in the entire league. When you come and play against them, you knew you’re not going to get a lot and you’re really going to have to earn your offence. You’re going to have to play with some patience, you’re going to have to be really good on the power play. You know all those things coming in. The game went pretty much the way we expected it to. We’d like ourselves to start better in the game and be better at different times but overall, I think the game went the way we expected it to and I was happy with our second period and it set us up for the third.

On the play of Timothy Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin:

I thought Liljegren had maybe his best game of the season here today. I really liked a lot of the things that he did, both with the puck and defensively. It was really good to see. He hits the post in the first period. It was nice to see him get rewarded with that power play goal there but I just thought he just played a really nice, efficient game for us all the way throughout. And then Sandin, as well, has been doing that for quite some time now. Both Sandin and Liljegren led the way on our defence today and it’s good to see Sandin get the win on just a terrific effort by Jeremy Bracco.

NEXT GAME:



March 8 at Laval – 7:00 p.m. ET

March 10 vs Bridgeport – 4:00 p.m. ET

March 11 vs Belleville – 1:30 p.m. ET (Scotiabank Arena)

March 15 at Hershey – 7:00 p.m. ET

March 16 at Lehigh Valley – 7:05 p.m. ET

Game Preview:

The Toronto Marlies make their fourth trip to Laval tonight for their eighth of 10 meetings this season against the Rocket. The Marlies currently hold a slight lead in the season series (4-2-1-0) after blanking the Rocket 1-0 and 3-0 in their most recent meetings.

The Marlies have won three of their last five contests and are coming off a 3-2 win over the Cleveland Monsters, while the Rocket are coming off a 4-1 loss to Cleveland. Both teams have split their past 10 games.

The playoff race is heating up and although the Rocket are currently out of contention sitting in seventh place in the North Division, the Marlies continue to jockey for positioning. The Marlies are six points back from Syracuse and Rochester who are tied with 75 points, while Belleville and Utica are fighting for the fourth and final playoff spot with 67 points apiece.

Players to watch: Jeremy Bracco continues to lead the Marlies with 57 points. He’s registered an assist in each of his last three games and continues to lead the AHL with 42 assists this season. Laval’s Alex Belzile leads the team in scoring with 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists). Rocket rookie, Jake Evans sits second in team scoring with 32 points (12 goals, 20 assists) and has recorded a goal in each of his last two games.

Puck drops at 7:30PM on AHLTV.

Head to Head (2018-19 Regular Season)

