BRAMPTON, ON – Brandon MacLean scored an empty net goal to ice the game and Chris Driedger made 23 stops as the Brampton Beast defeated the Toledo Walleye 3-1 on Tuesday night.
The Brampton Beast took on the Toledo Walleye from the Powerade Centre in a rare Tuesday night game.
Toledo has had Brampton’s number this season, but it was the Beast striking first on Tuesday. Brandon Marino curled off the sideboards deep in the Walleye zone. He surveyed the front of the net and threw a pass that was converted in front by David Vallorani. That made it 1-0 Brampton at the 12:17 mark.
The rest of the period was pretty even until the last minute, when the Beast started to press once again. Jackson Leef sent the puck to Nathan Todd who whipped it towards the front of the net. Defenseman Cody Donaghey was the recipient and redirected it past Walleye starter Matej Machovsky to give the Beast a 2-0 lead with five seconds left in the first. Brampton would head into the intermission up 2-0 but trailing in shots 9-7.
Toledo would respond in the second with a goal of their own. Tyler Barnes would whistle a shot over the shoulder of Beast netminder Driedger to cut into the Brampton lead at 5:51.
That would be all the scoring in the second and the Beast would retire to the dressing room up 2-1 and leading in shots 20-19.
The third period saw both teams exchange some great chances but it was the Beast who would pull ahead with a last minute empty netter. Brandon MacLean outworked the Walleye defenseman and lifted the puck into the open net.
Brampton snapped their nine-game winless streak and the aforementioned Driedger made 23 saves and recorded his second win in a Beast uniform this season.
Notes: Molson Three Stars: 3) Vallorani (BRA) 2) Donaghey (BRA) 1) Driedger (BRA)… Brampton was a perfect five-for-five on the penalty kill over the course of the night… Brampton will travel to Adirondack and Reading this weekend for a pair of divisional matchups.
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