1/17: Marlies This Week
Keith Aulie has been returned to the Marlies after the rockiest performance of his young NHL career in Calgary playing – perhaps as no coincidence – alongside Brett Lebda. Aulie will not play tonight in Rochester, Dave Nonis tells MLHS. Here is your weekly Marlies release:
“Last Week:
The Marlies played three road games last week and went 1-2-0-0. They opened their week on Wednesday night with a 5-1 loss to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Eric Tangradi netted a hat-trick in the Penguins win. Justin Hodgman scored the lone Marlie goal in the loss.
On Saturday night in Cleveland, Marcel Mueller’s hat-trick led the way for the Marlies as Toronto dropped Lake Erie 7-4. Seven different Marlie players registered multi-point games. James Reimer made 23 saves for his third straight win. The Marlies power play went 2-for-6.
Toronto lost a 5-1 decision to the Bulldogs in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon. Olivier Fortier notched three goals for the Bulldogs to help drop the Marlies. Joey Crabb’s team leading 11th tally of the season was the only Marlie goal.
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Notes:
- Marcel Mueller netted his first career AHL hat-trick on Saturday night in Cleveland. Mueller was named the game’s first star and also recorded the game’s winning goal.
- Korbinian Holzer scored his first career AHL goal on Saturday night.
- James Reimer has won his past three starts, allowing only seven goals during that stretch. Reimer has led the Marlies to record at least a point in his past six appearances.
- Simon Gysbers notched his first career three-point night on Saturday with a goal and two assists. Gysbers has tallied seven points (three goals, four assists) in his past five contests.
- The Marlies signed forward Jeff Cowan to a PTO contract on Tuesday morning. Cowan has skated in 413 career NHL games, recording 47 goals and 34 assists with four different clubs.
- Defenceman Mike Brennan ranks first on the team with a plus-10 rating.
- Josh Engel paces all AHL defencemen in game winning goals (3).
- The Marlies nine road wins rank third (tie) in the AHL. Toronto has posted a record of 9-4-0-3 away from Ricoh Coliseum this season.
- Toronto plays three home games after Christmas before embarking on a nine-game, 20 day road trip.
- The Marlies will travel to Whitby tonight for their second community practice of the season. They will hold their practice at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre.
- Saturday’s game versus Rochester will be the Marlies annual Teddy Bear Toss game. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal to throw on the ice after the Marlies first goal of the game.
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Upcoming Opponents:
The Marlies kick-off their two game week on Friday night with a tilt in Rochester at 7:35 p.m. On Saturday, the Marlies will host the Amerks for a 3 p.m. contest. The Americans currently rank seventh in the North Division with a record of 12-13-2-1 for 27 points. This will be the third and fourth meetings between the two clubs. Each team has posted a win, with the Marlies winning the most recent matchup on Nov. 26, 3-2 win. Joey Crabb notched the game-winning tally and Christian Hanson recorded a goal and a helper. Jussi Rynnas made 26 saves in the most recent game. Michal Repik paces the Americans this season with 30 points (four goals, 26 assists). Former Toronto Marlie Bates Battaglia was signed to a PTO contract by Rochester last week. Battaglia ranks second on the Marlies all-time list in points (144) and assists (95).
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Reading Report:
The Reading Royals currently rank second in the Atlantic division with a record of 15-8-0. The Royals have won 12 of their past 15 games. Goaltender Ben Scrivens has won each of his past six starts. Scrivens ranks first in the ECHL in save percentage (0.934) and fifth in goals against average (2.32).”
