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Photo: Marlies.ca

The Marlies are in Syracuse tonight for a Friday night matchup against the Crunch (7:30 p.m. puck drop) before returning home for a ten-game home stretch. Your weekly release from the Marlies:

“The Marlies went 1-2-0-0 in their three games last week. Toronto opened the week on Thursday night with a 6-2 win over the Lake Erie Monsters. The Marlies scored five times in the first period, with Joe Colborne—s goal holding up to be the game-winner. Matt Frattin scored twice in the game and was the game—s first star. Korbinian Holzer and Jesse Blacker both recorded +4 ratings in the win. Jerry D—Amigo and Mike Zigomanis both scored shorthanded tallies.

The following night in Hamilton, the Marlies dropped a 4-1 decision to the Bulldogs at Copps Coliseum. Matt Frattin was the lone Marlie goal scorer. Mark Owuya got the start, making 24 saves in a losing effort.

On Saturday afternoon, the Marlies lost to Rochester for the first time this season, 2-1. All three goals in the game were scored in the first period. Mike Zigomanis— 11th goal of the season was the lone goal for Toronto. Scrivens made 25 saves in the game.

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Notes:

– The Marlies are currently first in the North Division and third in the Western Conference with a record of 23-17-3-2 for 51 points. After Friday—s game in Syracuse, the Marlies won—t play on the road until February 29 in Hamilton.

– Mike Zigomanis has notched 14 points (six goals, eight assists) over his last 14 games. He has recorded a point in four of his past six games. Zigomanis ranks 10th (tie) in the AHL in points and eighth (tie) in power play assists (15).

– The Marlies penalty killing unit ranks second (tie) overall in the AHL with an 86.5% success rate. Toronto has only allowed six power play goals over their past 12 games.

– The Marlies are 17-0-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes.

– The Maple Leafs reassigned defenceman Keith Aulie and forward Nazem Kadri to the Marlies on Wednesday morning. Kadri was named AHL Player of the Month for November.

-Toronto will play 10 straight home contests from February 4 to February 26.

– Matt Frattin has scored three goals over his past three games. In 12 games with the Marlies this season, Frattin has recorded nine points (six goals, three assists).

– Drew Paris leads all Marlie skaters with a +10 rating; while Kyle Neuber ranks first on the club with 109 penalty minutes.

– Since being traded to Toronto, Nicolas Deschamps has tallied nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 11 games. In 31 games earlier this season with the Syracuse Crunch, Deschamps posted seven points.

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Upcoming Opponents:

The Marlies travel to War Memorial at Oncenter Arena on Friday, to face off against the Syracuse Crunch at 7:30pm. The Crunch are fourth in the East Division with 44 points. Syracuse is 5-3-0-2 in their past 10 games. Kyle Palmieri is first (tie) in the AHL in goals with 25. Patrick Maroon ranks sixth in the league with 45 points. This is the second meeting between the two clubs. Toronto defeated the Crunch 2-0 on January 3.

On Saturday the Marlies will begin their 10-game homestand against the Abbotsford Heat. This is the first meeting between these two former division rivals. Krys Kolanos is 10th in the league (tie) and first on his team with 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists). Leland Irving ranks first in the AHL with four shutouts. The Heat rank third in the West Division with a record of 25-16-3-0 for 53 points. They have struggled of late, only winning three of their past 10 games.

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Reading Report:

The Reading Royals rank third in the Atlantic Division with a 18-19-3-3 record. Dale Mitchell has recorded 21 points (12 goals, nine assists) in 21 games. In 12 games, Kenny Ryan has tallied eight points (two goals, six assists).”

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Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.