The Marlies battled their way back to the win column tonight, picking up two points in a 6-2 victory over the visiting Charlotte Checkers.
January 31st, 2019 – TORONTO ONTARIO CANADA – The Toronto Marlies, AHL affiliate of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs, take on the Charlotte Checkers at the Coca-Cola Centre in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo credit: Christian Bonin/TSGphoto.com)
The visitors struck first at 6:16 of the opening frame, putting the Marlies on notice early on in the game. They were quick to shake off the early deficit and responded at 7:56 with a goal from Nic Petan. Petan picked up the loose puck in the slot and walked in before firing a shot past Anton Forsberg. Petan’s 10th of the season was unassisted. Charlotte held a 12-11 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes and the score was knotted 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
The Marlies came out firing on all cylinders in the second period with three goals in a minute and a half to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Mac Hollowell kickstarted the second period scoring at 1:19 with a beauty backhand for his first career AHL goal. Nic Petan and Ben Harpur registered the assists. At 2:30, Scott Pooley wired a shot from the faceoff circle, beating Forsberg blocker side. Pooley’s fifth of the season was assisted by Teemu Kivihalme and Timothy Liljegren. The goal chased Anton Forsberg from the goal as Alex Nedeljkovic entered the game to relieve him. 19 seconds later, Pooley picked off a pass as the Checkers were attempting to clear the zone and jumped in on a breakaway and made no mistake beating Nedeljkovic. Later in the frame the Checkers capitalized on a power play opportunity, cutting the deficit to 4-2. At 18:05, the Marlies answered back with a power play goal of their own as Tanner MacMaster walked in and lifted a backhand over the blocker of Nedeljkovic to restore the Marlies’ three-goal lead heading into the second intermission.
At the five minute mark of the third period, Egor Korshkov welcomed himself back to the lineup, extending Toronto’s lead to 6-2. Korshkov shook off a Checkers’ defenceman behind the net before scoring a wraparound goal to give the Marlies a comfy lead. The Marlies maintained their lead and held the Checkers to only eight shots on goal in the final frame. Kasimir Kaskisuo turned away 31 shots on the night to pick up his 12th win of the season in the 6-2 final.
The Marlies and Checkers will meet again for a rematch tomorrow at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Puck drops at 4:00 PM.
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