ROCKET PUT IN STRONG EFFORT, BUT MARLIES TRIO OF SECOND-PERIOD GOALS LEAD THEM TO 3-2 VICTORY

LAVAL (December 27, 2019) — The Toronto Marlies used three goals in 0:59 of the second period to escape Place Bell with a 3-2 victory over the Laval Rocket in front of 6, 940 spectators on Friday night. 

All five of the game’s goals were scored in a span of 10:13 in the middle frame. The first three went to the visitors, off the sticks of Pontus Aberg, Kalle Kossila and Joseph Duszak. Evan McEneny and Yannick Veilleux regained two of those goals, but the Rocket were unable to find the precious equalizer despite heavily outshooting the Marlies. 

After a scoreless first period, Aberg opened the floodgates at 7:35 of the middle frame, while Kossila and Duszak added their firsts of the season less than a minute later to give the Marlies a commanding three-goal lead. The Rocket, however, returned the favour scoring a pair of goals just 28 seconds apart, cutting the deficit to one after two periods. McEneny notched his first of the season—and first as a Rocket—followed by Veilleux’s second goal in just his second game of the 2019-20 campaign. 

Laval’s persistent third-period pressure was not enough to see them beat Kasimir Kaskisuo who made 32 saves in the contest, earning himself the first star of the night. 

“It was a good game. We had some good chances to tie the game up. We put out an unbelievable push in the third. We just did not score. We have seen some good stuff from guys who are playing big minutes,” said Dale Weise after the game. 

Friday’s matchup marked the 100th career AHL game for Rocket forward, Jake Evans. Entering tonight’s game, Toronto and Laval were separated by just five points in the standings. 

The teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m., where the Rocket will look to close the gap. The Pro-Challenge presented by the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association will follow at 6:30 p.m. 

Marqeures/Scorers 

LAV: McEneny (Alain, Leskinen) | Veilleux (Olofsson, McCarron) 

TOR: Aberg (Bracco, Liljegren) | Kossila (Marchment, Read) | Duszak (Archibald) 

Unités spéciales/Special teams 

LAV | AN/PP: (1/4) | IN/PK: (0/1) 

TOR | AN/PP: (1/1) | IN/PK: (3/4) 

Gardiens/Goaltenders 

LAV: Kinkaid (16/19) | Primeau (2/2) 

TOR: Kaskisuo (32/34) 

Trois étoiles/Three stars 

1. Kaskisuo – TOR 2. McEneny – LAV 3. Duszak – TOR