Marlies Extend Winning Streak to Three Games with 5-4 Win

February 14, 2009

Stapleton’s Two Goal Effort Enough To Edge Griffins
(TORONTO) – The Toronto Marlies defeated the Grand Rapids Griffins, 5-4 on Saturday afternoon in front of 2,817 fans at Ricoh Coliseum. Jiri Tlusty and Tim Stapleton lead the way for the Marlies to push their winning streak to three games.

Jeremy Williams picked up right where he left off, scoring his 12th goal of the season and first since returning from the Maple Leafs. Andre Deveaux and Darryl Boyce collected assists on the play.

Richard Petiot notched his third of the season to give the Marlies a 2-0 first period lead. Kyle Rogers threw the puck on net and Griffins starting goalie Daniel Larsson kicked out a rebound right to Petiot who then fired it home.

Justin Abdelkader scored to get the Griffins on the board cutting the lead to 2-1 with six minutes remaining in the first period.

Tim Stapleton wired home his 15th goal of the season just over a minute into the second period. Jiri Tlusty passed the puck up to Stapleton and released a wrist shot that went off the post and in past Larsson. Both Tlusty and Stapleton extended their points streaks to six-games each. Bates Battaglia collected the other on the play.

Jiri Tlusty extended the Marlies lead to three with his 12th goal of the season. Tlusty has now collected three straight multi-point games. Bates Battaglia and Josh Engel collected assists on the play. Engel’s assist marks his first point with the Marlies.

Abdelkader and Kolosov responded for the Griffins to cut the Marlies lead down to only one before Tim Stapleton was able to one-time a shot over the left shoulder of Griffins goalie Danial Larsson. It was Stapleton’s second goal of the game making it 5-3. Jiri Tlusty and Bates Battaglia assisted on the goal.

Garrett Stafford cut the lead down to one but the Marlies were able to hold on for the win. Justin Pogge made 22 saves for his 19th win of the season.

The Marlies host the Springfield Falcons on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. at Ricoh Coliseum. Tomorrow’s game is Matt Stajan bobblehead day.

ICE CHIPS: Paul Coffey was part of the pre-game ceremony and puck-drop…Ryan Hollweg made his Marlies debut today…Mark Bell was one of the assistant captains for Toronto for the first time this season…Jeremy Williams appeared in his first game with the Marlies since December 6, 2008…The Marlies have scored 16 total goals on their current two-game winning streak…Tlusty and Stapleton each entered the game with five-game points streaks…Tlusty has recorded three straight multiple point games…

SCORING SUMMARY
First Period

1. TOR J. Williams (12) (Deveaux, Boyce) 7:35

2. TOR R. Petiot (3) (Rogers) 12:51

1. GRA J. Abdelkader (17) (Pyett) 13:15

Second Period
3. TOR T. Stapleton (15) (Tlusty, Battaglia) 1:17

4. TOR J. Tlusty (12) (Battaglia, Engel) 14:15

2. GRA J. Abdelkader 2 (18) (Everton, Stafford) 15:0

3 PP3. GRA S. Kolosov (4) (Mursak, McGrath) 16:00

5. TOR T. Stapleton 2 (16) (Tlusty, Battaglia) 17:01

4. GRA G. Stafford (8) (Kolosov) 19:17

Third Period

Shots
TOR GRA

26 26

THREE STARS

1. TOR: Tim Stapleton

2. TOR: Jiri Tlusty

3. GRA: Justin Abdelkader

SOURCE: torontomarlies.com