Marlies Finish Regular Season On Sour Note: Playoffs Coming

Note: Cleveland finished first because they had 40 regulation wins to Rochester’s 39.

Top Scorers for the Marlies

Joseph Blandisi was the Marlies’ top overall scorer with 59 points (25G, 34A) in 70 games played. Logan Shaw led the way in goals with 30. He had one point less than Blandisi but only played 58 games. Kieffer Bellows and Alex Steeves finished second in goals with 27 each. Steeves was third in points with 57. Nick Abruzzese was fourth in overall scoring with 52 points, while Bellows rounded out the top five with 52 points. 

Topi Niemela was the top-scoring defenseman on the team with eight goals and 31 assists for 39 points. William Villeneuve beat out Max Lajoie for second by one point (25 to 24).

Dennis Hildeby was the best goalie, and it wasn’t even close. Hildeby played 41 games, 24 more than Keith Petruzzelli who was second in appearances with 17. Hildeby’s record was 21-11-7 with a 2.41 goals-against-average (GAA) and a 0.913 save percentage (SV%). Luke Cavallin was second on the team in both SV% at 0.884 and GAA with 3.01. Cavallin’s record was 3-4-2 in nine appearances. Petruzzelli was 6-8-2 with a 3.55 GAA and a 0.867 SV%.

Looking Forward to the Marlies-Senators Series

The Marlies and the Belleville Senators are extremely familiar with each other, having played a total of ten games against each other this season. They split their games right down the middle, going 4-4-2. In the ten games, the Marlies managed to score one more goal than the Senators (31-30). I watched all ten of their games and can honestly say the Marlies have the more talented team. But I’m not sure if they have a better team. 

The series could come down to a goaltender duel between Hildeby and Mads Sogaard. Sogaard’s stats over the regular season are close to Hildeby’s. He has a better won/loss record, 18-9-3 in 32 appearances, but his GAA is just 0.04 higher at 2.45 GAA, and his Save Percentage is 0.03 higher at 0.916%. I would rate the series as “pick-um.”

If the Marlies get by Belleville, they face a tough series against the first-place Cleveland Monsters. Toronto failed to beat Cleveland in eight attempts this season. They lost all eight games in regulation. Six of those games were one-goal victories by the Monsters.