Abbotsford Heat Burn Marlies 5-2 in Season Finale

The Abbotsford Heat were just too hot to handle as the Toronto Marlies dropped a 5-2 decision in the final regular season game for both teams in front of 5,514 fans on Fan Appreciation Day at Ricoh Coliseum.

 

Heat forward Jon Rheault scored two goals to lead the Heat while John Lammers, Shawn Weller and Tyler Spurgeon rounded out the scoring for Abbotsford who finished third in the North Division with a record of 39-29-12.

 

Forward Tim Brent scored both Toronto goals as the Marlies were playing their third game in as many nights after splitting the previous two games in the shootout – losing 4-3 in Rochester on Friday and winning 3-2 at home over Hamilton on Saturday.

 

Coming into the game the Marlies were aiming to improve their record to .500 but finished the season 33-35-6-6, finishing fifth in the North Division with 78 points, nine shy of the Manitoba Moose for the final playoff spot.

 

“We wanted to win to get to .500,” said Brent, who was fresh off playing the night before for the Toronto Maple Leafs in their overtime win in Montreal.

 

“We took too many penalties and I think the emotions got the better of us. We had some chances we couldn’t score on and we had a couple of bad breaks. It’s the last game of the year, it’s not real easy to play when you’re not playing for a whole lot.”

 

Toronto played very physical throughout the game, especially in the final two periods, dishing out plenty of hits but also resulted in the Marlies getting into penalty trouble. The spirited affair featured a few fights and both teams became increasingly agitated towards the end with many skirmishes occurring after whistles.

 

 

Despite the lopsided score, the Marlies came out of the gate well and had numerous chances in the first period, outshooting Abbotsford 15-6, but were denied on every opportunity by Heat goalie Leland Irving.

 

Abbotsford took advantage with a power-play with just over five minutes left in the opening frame when Heat forward Cam Cunning corralled a rebound and passed off to Rheault who fired the puck past Marlies goalie Andrew Engelage.

 

Abbotsford took over the game in the second period outshooting the Marlies 17-5 and scored 3 goals – one early and two late – to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the third period.

 

Heat forward Lammers scored 48 seconds into the period to make it 2-0. Weller tallied with a power-play goal at 18:26 and Rheault scored his second of the game only 40seconds later.

 

Tim Brent finally got the Marlies on the board when he tipped in a Phil Oreskovic point shot to make it 4-1 early in the third period. Both teams traded goals in the last minute of the game before tempers flared once again after the final whistle.

 

Once the dust had settled and cooler heads prevailed, the entire Marlies team gathered at centre ice to salute the crowd.

 

Irving made several big saves, stopping 22-of-24 shots to pick up his 14^th win of the season while Engelage made 25 saves in the loss.

 

Abbotsford will now gear up for the playoffs while Toronto – on the outside looking in – will face a long off-season and clear out their lockers this week.

 

“We have a great group of guys,” said Brent. “I think a lot of friendships were made and you try to take the positives out of years like this. I think a lot of guys grew as players and hopefully people. You have to take a few days off here and start worrying about next year.”

Contact Aman Dhanoa at aman@oyetimes.com

Photos courtesy of Annandi Merhai of Devi Designs