(Toronto) Joseph Blandisi scored two goals and the Toronto Marlies served a 7-1 correction to the Laval Rocket on Sunday at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Blandisi’s dominance against his former team continued, as he now has seven goals and nine points in his last five games against Laval.
After having signed four victories in a row, everything has to start again for the Rocket (27-25-8), who once again saw the Marlies (27-20-11) distance themselves in the standings, as they had done a little over three weeks ago.
The Torontonians came to Place Bell and dominated the Montreal Canadiens’ farm club in two very important duels.
“Our level of emotion was not very high. We will have to talk about it with our players, mentioned head coach Jean-François Houle. Especially since it is a rival in the race for the series. They came out better than us. »
Kieffer Bellows and Dylan Gambrell both had a goal and an assist for the Marlies, who recorded their second straight victory. Roni Hirvonen, Nick Abruzzese and Matteo Pietroniro also hit the mark.
Taking advantage of a nice four-goal lead after 20 minutes, Dennis Hildeby worked at his ease and concluded the game with 30 saves.
Emil Heineman scored the only goal for the Rocket, who are now three points behind the Toronto squad. The latter also has two matches in hand.
Jakub Dobes got the start, but he was replaced coming out of the first intermission after allowing four goals on 12 shots. In relief, Kasimir Kaskisuo repelled 10 of the 13 pucks aimed at him.
“I’m really disappointed with this match. The best team won tonight, Houle said. They were better on special teams, at even strength, and they played with more aggressiveness. »
The Rocket will return to Laval for a few days before heading to Belleville and Toronto next weekend.
A hockey lesson
Only one team had the knife between their teeth to start the clash, and it was the Marlies.
During a power play, Gambrell made a nice cross-ice pass to Bellows, who placed the puck in the top corner for his 26e goal of the campaign.
The visitors were unable to recover in time and allowed a second goal, just 75 seconds later. The Marlies worked well in enemy territory and Blandisi slipped the puck between the pads of Dobes, who did not help his cause by trying to clear his semi-circle.
The Torontonians struck again quickly, in an interval of 96 seconds, before returning to the locker room. A risky play by William Trudeau in the center allowed Hirvonen to complete Josiah Slavin’s maneuver during a surplus. On the power play, Abruzzese then pushed the puck into open space following the work of Bellows and Logan Shaw.
The Rocket had a better start to the second period and regained hope during a power play. Justin Barron slipped the puck to Heineman, who fired a cannonball into the top corner.
The Marlies stopped the momentum a little more than two minutes later. Poor coverage from Logan Mailloux allowed Steeves to make a cross pass to Gambrell, who attempted it twice to thread the needle.
The third period was a little less exciting, as the final result was all but confirmed, but the home favorites added two goals to turn the iron in the wound.