Marlies Down Moose 3-1

March 15, 2009
Marlies Extend Winning Streak to Three Games

(TORONTO) – The Toronto Marlies won their third straight game on Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over the Manitoba Moose in front of 4,311 at Ricoh Coliseum. Stefano Giliati’s second period goal held up to be the game-winner.

The Marlies set the tone early with a big hit from Alex Foster right in front of the Toronto bench. Guillaume Desbiens picked up the instigator penalty for starting the fight with Foster after the hit.

The Marlies went ahead 1-0, after left winger Ryan Hamilton beat Moose goaltender Curtis Sanford at 19:48 of the first period. Alex Foster fired a shot on goal that rebounded out to Hamilton who scored his 13th of the season. Ashton Rome collected the other assist on the play, his first point as a Marlie.

The Moose tied the game early in the second period on a breakaway goal from Michael Grabner. Derek Nesbitt sprung Grabner in all alone, scoring his team leading 26th of the season.
Toronto went ahead 2-1 mid-way through the second frame on a tic-tac-toe goal finished by Stefano Giliati. Ryan Hollweg started the play with a pass to Andrew Martens, who dished it to Giliati for his fifth of the season.

The Marlies took a 2-1 advantage into the second intermission.
Toronto went ahead 3-1, after Jeremy Williams capitalized on the power play scoring his 23rd of the season. Battaglia set up Williams for his 16th power play tally of the season, moving him into third place in the AHL in power play goals.

The Marlies held on for the victory, improving their record to 35-26-2-5. Tim Stapleton was held off the score sheet, snapping his five-game point streak. Justin Pogge turned away 21 shots, earning his 23rd win of the season.

The Marlies finished their four-game week with a record of 3-1-0-0, all against division opponents.

Toronto hits the road for two games in Grand Rapids on Friday and Saturday night. Seven of the next nine games Toronto plays will be away from Ricoh Coliseum.

ICE CHIPS: The Toronto Marlies post a record of 9-19-1-0 all-time against the Manitoba Moose...Manitoba Moose goaltender Curtis Sanford entered the game with a record of 5-1-2 with a G.A.A of 1.85 and .930 save percentage...Justin Pogge is 10-2-0 in his last 13 home games...Moose captain Mike Keane appeared in his 62nd game of the year...Marlies defensemen Andrew Martens skated in 11 games with the Manitoba Moose earlier this season...Jaime Sifers has collected five assists in his past five games.

SCORING SUMMARY
First Period
1. TOR R.Hamilton (13) (Foster, Rome) 19:48

Second Period
1. MTB M.Grabner (26) (Nesbitt,Krog) 1:04
2. TOR S.Giliati (5) (Martens, Hollweg) 10:08

Third Period
3. TOR J.Williams (23) (Battaglia, Sifers) 2:10 PP

Shots
TOR MTB
23 22

THREE STARS
1. TOR: Alex Foster
2. MTB: Curtis Sanford
3. TOR: Justin Pogge

SOURCE: torontomarlies.com