The Toronto Marlies hosted the Cleveland Monsters today for a North Division matchup at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Looking to bounce back from a 3-2 loss to the Manitoba Moose on Wednesday, the Marlies came out flying in the opening minutes of the game, looking to set the tone early on. Josh Jooris opened the scoring at 1:55 to give the Marlies an early lead. Jooris’ eighth of the season was assisted by Tom Sestito and Steve Oleksy. Adam Brooks extended the Marlies’ lead to 2-0, scoring his 15thof the season at 12:56. Jeremy Bracco recorded the primary assist on the goal while Nicholas Baptiste picked up his first point with the Marlies with the secondary assist.
The Marlies had three power play opportunities in the second period but were unable to convert on the man-advantage. At 6:02, Tanner MacMaster had a breakaway opportunity but was hauled down and awarded a penalty shot. Cleveland’s Brad Thiessen stood tall and made the save to keep the score 2-0. Late in the frame, MacMaster found redemption, beating Thiessen with a shot from the slot. Brady Ferguson and Gabriel Gagne picked up the assists on MacMaster’s third of the season and first with the Marlies. That would be the lone goal of the frame as the Marlies held a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
Adam Clendening solved Michael Hutchinson at 4:14 of the third period to cut the Monsters’ deficit to 3-1. Mark Letestu and Justin Scott assisted on the goal. Monsters’ leading scorer, Zac Dalpe brought the Monsters within one with 6:17 remaining in the third period, but the Marlies held on for a 3-2 win.