The Marlies played back-to-back games against the Manitoba Moose on Friday and Saturday, winning both. Friday’s victory was 5-2, and Saturday’s was 1-0.

The Marlies are on a hot streak, winning eleven of their past fifteen games. They now have 56 points, which good for third place in the AHL North Division standings. As a reminder, the top four in the division of seven teams move on to the playoffs. There is no wild card playoff berth. The wins were badly needed after a very poor showing in December where they lost nine of twelve games.

Interestingly, the Marlies continue to keep their scoring up while their top scorers, Brendan Leipsic and Kasperi Kapanen have been out with injuries. There is still no timetable for the return of either player.

Several of their teammates have stepped up their game to keep the Marlies offence going in their absence, including in Friday and Saturday’s important wins.

Dmytro Timashov

On Friday, Timashov scored the first goal of the game on a power-play. It was his ninth goal of this season which is his first in the AHL after being drafted in 2015.

On Saturday he scored again, which turned out to be the only goal of the game. Garret Sparks shutout the Moose (with help from Frank Corrado who cleared a loose puck in the crease that was dangerously close to the goal line while Sparks was down.

Post-game Timashov called the goal simply the result of “a lucky bounce,” but he got the shot off because of his good speed and being in the right position. At 20 years old, I like the progression of his game.

Andreas Johnsson

Johnsson didn’t make it on the score sheet in the games against the Moose, but he had an impact with 5 shots on goal turned away by Eric Comrie.

He isn’t afraid to put himself in front of the puck as necessary. At the end of Saturday’s game, with only two seconds left on the clock, he found himself between the net and a Moose player making the last ditch shot attempt. This was out at the blue line, along the boards, with Sparks well in position to stop it if it even went near him. The chance of this shot actually going in the net was very very low. It didn’t matter to Johnsson who made sure to get in close and block the shot. It looked painful, but it reduced the chance of goal from 1% to 0%.

Trevor Moore

In Friday’s game two of the five goals were by Moore, his eighth and ninth of the season in 35 games played.

Moore, who was not drafted and was signed from the NCAA, has been playing with Byron Froese and Seth Griffith since Griffith arrived on the team from the waiver claim. “They’re both NHL players, they’ve been there. It’s awesome for me. I get to learn from them.” Their line has combined for the bulk of scoring in recent games. Froese was swapped out for Colin Greening for Saturday’s game due to an undisclosed injury, expected to be short-term.

Seth Griffith

Since joining the Marlies for a game on January 21st, Griffith has registered at least one point in 11 of 14 games played. He know has 18 points total. Three of those came on Friday night, including this goal.

Griffith obviously has a great skill-set and he makes a lot of plays happen. He is averaging a little over one assist per game. He would be missed if called up to the Leafs again.

What’s Next

The Marlies play the Binghamton Senators on Family Day at the Air Canada Centre at 3:00PM

Toronto Marlies