Lineup
Forward lines and defense pairings:
[one_half]Carr – McCarron – Thomas
Andrighetto – Hudon – Holloway
McNally – Dumont – Gregoire
MacMillan – Miceli – Fournier[/one_half]
[one_half_last]Barberio – Ellis
Bennett – Dietz
Hanley – Lernout[/one_half_last]
Goaltenders:
Fucale
Pasquale
Scratches: Eric Neilson, Connor Crisp (undisclosed injury), Jacob De la Rose (lower-body), Nikita Scherbak (undisclosed injury)
Injured reserve: Ryan Johnston (back surgery)
Game Report
Looking at the game sheet, you would be excused if you came to the conclusion that the AHL was testing new, larger nets at Mile One on Saturday night. Both starting goaltenders, Zach Fucale and Toronto’s Antoine Bibeau gave up eight goals. In Fucale’s case, three-quarters of the goals allowed could be categorized as soft or very soft.
After allowing his eighth goal, fourth of the third period, Fucale was lifted in favour of Eddie Pasquale. In a quirk of the scoring rules, despite making seven of eight stops, Pasquale was charged with the loss.
The IceCaps scored five goals in the second period and had an 8-4 lead with 19 minutes left in the third period. But the Marlies showed resilience, taking advantage of some shaky goaltending.
On the positive side was the night of Mike McCarron. The rookie centre set an IceCaps franchise record with two goals and three assists for five points. Defenceman Morgan Ellis has a solid game with two goals and an assist on four shots.
In 16 games, the IceCaps have now given up 59 goals which is tops in the league. Allowing 3.69 goals per game is not a recipe for success.
The IceCaps will have the week to work on team defense before a two-game series against the Syracuse Crunch at Mile One Centre.
▲ Michael McCarron, Morgan Ellis, Bud Holloway, Charles Hudon
▼ Zach Fucale |