Ryan Hamilton celebrates with his team after scoring against the St John's IceCaps- Image Courtesy of TSGphoto.com
TORONTO-The Toronto Marlies hosted the St. John’s IceCaps in back to back games this weekend and came away with three of a possible four points.
“We wanna be putting points in the bank every night,” said Marlies head coach Dallas Eakins. “That’s a good hockey team. One of the better ones we’ve played this year.”
On Saturday, Aaron Gagnon scored the shoot-out winner as St. John’s skated away with a 4-3 victory.
Paul Postma and Carl Klingberg each had a goal and an assist for the IceCaps while Arturs Kulda added the other.
Ryan Hamilton led the Marlies offensively with two power-play goals as Will Acton added a single.
Mike Zigomanis had two assists while Jeff Finger, Greg Scott, Jerry D’Amigo and Drew Paris had one apiece.
David Aebischer made 32 saves for the win as Ben Scrivens stopped 25 shots in defeat.
St John’s went 1 for 7 on the power play while Toronto scored twice on six chances with the man advantage.
D’Amigo scored what looked to be the game-winning goal midway through the third period, however it was called off for goalie interference as Tyler Brenner was down in the crease.
Jussi Rynnas stopped 36 shots, earning first star of the game and a 3-1 victory on Sunday against the St John's IceCaps
On Sunday, Jussi Rynnas played his best game all season, making 36 saves and leading the Marlies to a 3-1 victory.
Matt Caruana, D’Amigo and Hamilton each scored for Toronto.
Kelsey Wilson, Simon Gysbers, Scott, Acton and Zigomanis picked up an assist each.
Gagnon scored the lone goal for the IceCaps.
Edward Pasquale stopped 18 of 20 shots for the loss.
Power play was never a factor as both teams went 0 for 3.
With three goals over the weekend, Hamilton has now scored six in his last five games.
“He’s there for us every night,” said Eakins about his captain. “He battles hard and is playing good hockey right now. He hasn’t been able to put together a bunch of games in the past. This year he’s been injury free and he’s playing the best hockey I’ve seen him play. Strong on the puck, excellent down low, he kills penalties and plays the power play as well.”
On the flip side, Joe Colborne has struggled since returning to the Marlies from the Leafs but Eakins isn’t phased as of yet.
“I think he’s playing well,” said Eakins. “His numbers aren’t the same but were not concerned. He’s one of the guys though that I’m looking to step up and dominate the game.”
Next up for Toronto is the Syracuse Crunch, who will visit the Ricoh Coliseum Tuesday night for a 7pm match-up.
Worth Noting
Ben Scrivens went 1-5-1 in the month of December
Jerry D’Amigo leads the Marlies with three game-winning goals
Joe Colborne has just one goal and three assists in nine games since returning from the Leafs
Ryan Hamilton leads the Marlies with 15 goals, his career high is 20
The Marlies went 4-7-0 in the month of December
The Marlies are 9-7-4 when scoring the first goal of the game
Sunday’s loss was the IceCaps first regulation-time loss on the road. They are 12-1-2 away from home
Kyle Cicerella
