ICECAPS
St. John’s

5-4

MARLIES
Toronto

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Lessio – Hudon – Holloway
Bournival – McCarron – Dumont
MacMillan – De La Rose – Fournier
McNally – Eisenschmid – Gregoire [/one_half]

[one_half_last]Bennett – Dietz
Ellis – Didier
Hanley – Lernout[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Pasquale
Fucale

Scratches: Eric Neilson, Mark Barberio, Connor Crisp (undisclosed), Nikita Scherbak (undisclosed)
Injured reserve:  Ryan Johnston (back surgery)

Game Report

The IceCaps got right back to work this afternoon with another matinee matchup against the Toronto Marlies.  After spending the first few minutes of the game with both teams testing each other out, action started to pick up when the IceCaps drew the game’s first power play.  Pasquale’s best save of the period came with just under 7 minutes left in the period as Viktor Loov curled around in the zone, found some empty space and wired a shot but Pasquale flashed the leather. Just over a minute and a half later, Zach Hyman opened the scoring for the Marlies as he tapped in a loose puck at the goal mouth. As the period wound down, Bournival scored a power play goal to tie the game, his first of the season, with assists from Gabriel Dumont and Darren Dietz.

The IceCaps started the second period by killing off the remainder of a Mac Bennett penalty he took at the end of the first period.  After the Marlies went up by a goal once again, the IceCaps really started to pick up the physical play.

With 12 minutes left in the second period, the IceCaps only had 2 shots on goal and the Marlies had made it 3-1 on a goal from Justin Holl off the ensuing faceoff. Under a minute later, Charles Hudon fed Bud Holloway who sent a beautiful saucer pass over to Joel Hanley who pushed the puck past Ray Emery.

Early in the final frame, Bud Holloway tied things up at 3-3.  The IceCaps came out this period far more engaged, looking like the momentum they had at the end of the previous period had carried over. Jacob de la Rose potted his second goal of the season to give the IceCaps their first lead of the game.

The Marlies applied pressure throughout the third, looking to even things up on the scoreboard but Eddie Pasquale and the St. John’s defense were clicking.  After a Toronto timeout with just under two minutes remaining, the Marlies tied things up off a point shot from Rinat Valiev.  The IceCaps didn’t give up and 50 seconds later Gabriel Dumont managed to squeak a shot through Emery to make it 5-4 for the visiting team and seal the comeback victory.

Earlier in the day Tim Bozon, Angelo Miceli, and Dalton Thrower were sent down to the Brampton Beast.  During the game, the news came out that Mark Barberio had been recalled to the Montreal Canadiens. The IceCaps continue their road trip on Wednesday night with a game against the Rochester Amerks to be played in Buffalo’s First Niagara Center.

▲     Jacob de la Rose, Lucas Lessio, Gabriel Dumont, Bud Holloway, Michael Bournival, Michael McCarron

▼

1. Gabriel Dumont  STJ
2. Brendan Leipsic  TOR
3. Bud Holloway  STJ

• “(Need to improve) the execution, reads, the better choice of plays. Sometimes tonight we forced plays a little too much.”
• “We skated yesterday. You know the first period I thought we came out pretty good, then the second period we seemed to be flat.”

Post-game interview with Sylvain Lefebvre

Audio from interviews conducted by Chris Hatzitolios for IceCaps Hockey Report | Rocket Sports Media.

Quotes and audio courtesy of Rocket Sports Media

Marlies turnover leads to Jacob de la Rose in all alone, dekes to the backhand, off the post & in! 4-3 lead! #IceCaps @IceCapsReport

— Christopher (@CHatzitoliosMTL) December 27, 2015

Eddie Pasquale leads the #IceCaps onto the ice for warmups. @IceCapsReport pic.twitter.com/M5X7iBH0CX

— Christopher (@CHatzitoliosMTL) December 27, 2015

Just under an hour until puck drop. 🔴⚪️🔵 St.John's #IceCaps vs 🔵⚪️ Toronto #Marlies @IceCapsReport pic.twitter.com/hHlk943tQK

— Christopher (@CHatzitoliosMTL) December 27, 2015

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