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TORONTO -- Toronto Marlies coach Steve Spott felt his team had more than enough opportunity to pick up two points Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum.Chris Harris Jersey . Torontos power play was held scoreless on three opportunities, including once in overtime, and the Marlies out-shot the Iowa Wild 39-27, but fell 2-1 in a shootout to the visitors. Carson MacMillan and Zack Phillips scored in the shootout to help Iowa snap a five-game skid. It was the Wilds fourth win in 11 games. "I think we had more than enough opportunity to put the game away," said Spott. "Very good players with empty nets and were hitting posts, were not getting pucks up and over (Wild starter, Johan) Gustafsson. "We had some glorious chances, that we didnt put in the back of the net. When you let a team like that -- thats desperate -- hang around, thats what the result is going to be." Toronto dropped to 1-1-0 on their current three-game, three-night stretch and had their three-game win streak snapped. MacMillan faked a slapshot and then beat Marlies starter Garret Sparks in the first round of the shootout. Then Phillips faked a shot, got Sparks moving before beating him glove-side in the third round. Jamie MacQueen scored in regulation for Iowa (26-30-10), while Gustafsson made 38 saves for his 12th win of the season. Peter Holland had the lone goal for Toronto (40-20-6). Sparks made 25 saves in his first loss since Jan. 25. The Marlies couldve had a fourth power-play opportunity, in the third period. Wild forward Brett Bulmer was assessed a roughing minor, but Brandon Kozun retaliated with a careless cross-check and negated the man advantage chance. When asked of Kozuns penalty, Spott responded, "I think he wont play tomorrow." With the win, the Wild earn a split in the season series. The Marlies won the only other meeting between the two teams 4-3 on Jan. 15 in Des Moines, Iowa. Holland tied it 1-1, with his ninth of the season, at 1:12 of the third period by picking up the rebound off of a Kenny Ryan shot and beating Gustafsson stick-side. "Kenny made a nice play, just coming down the right side and threw it off the pad," said Holland of the play. "I was lucky enough to kind of pick up the rebound, pull it across the net and tuck it in the far side." Toronto dropped to 5-12-4 when trailing after 40 minutes this season. MacQueen opened the scoring at 7:37 beating Sparks with a shot from the bottom of the face-off circle for his second of the season. Prior to MacQueens goal, Kris Foucault had a great scoring chance when his shot beat Sparks, but hit the post at 6:00 of the second. Holland had an excellent chance to open the scoring at 16:00 of the first period, but put his shot off the side of the net with Gustafsson out of position. "We missed a couple point-blank opportunities with open nets, putting it out the far side," said Holland agreeing with Spotts assessment. "Either that or hitting the post, a couple bounces go our way, its a different story." Toronto concludes their three-game, three night stretch, when they host the Abbotsford Heat on Sunday. The Marlies need three points to clinch a playoff spot as well as their third consecutive North Division title. Its something the Maple Leafs minor leaguers are focused on. "As we go forward here our job is to win the division and try to catch Grand Rapids for second in the conference and thats still our goal," said Spott. Added Holland: "Thats obviously our main objective here is to clinch as fast as we can. We dont want to take any of the teams we play lightly, but just work on things going into the playoffs. Give guys who dont get a lot of minutes a chance to play more. Its definitely something were focusing on." Notes: Rookie defenceman Eric Knodel made his professional debut replacing Korbinian Holzer for the Marlies. The Maple Leafs recalled forward Jerry DAmigo from the Marlies on Saturday. Marlies goaltender Drew MacIntyre was a healthy scratch as Christopher Gibson backed up Sparks. Spott said Holzer, MacIntyre and captain Trevor Smith were all given the day off to rest bumps and bruises. Demaryius Thomas Womens Orange Jersey . The IceHogs scored three unanswered goals, capped by Jeremy Morins third-period goal, to beat the Marlies 3-2 in American Hockey League play Wednesday. Julius Thomas Jersey For Sale .S. international midfielder Michael Bradley. The club has already announced the signing of Defoe, with the 31-year-old Spurs star set to be unveiled at a news conference Monday morning at the huge high-tech sports bar owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment across the street from the Air Canada Centre.UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- Cory Schneider has to make the most of his opportunities to guard the New Jersey Devils net to earn more playing time. It doesnt come easily in a goalie split with Martin Brodeur, but he made a good case for himself in a 2-1 victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday night. Schneider made 30 saves and held off the Islanders late charge to win for the first time since a shutout of Buffalo on Nov. 30. "I want to win, but you cant do it without the guys in front of you," Schneider said. "I thought we played really well tonight, and we eliminated a lot of their odd-man rush opportunities." The 27-year-old goalie held the Islanders scoreless until midway through the third period, before Frans Nielsen tied it 1-1. It didnt stay even for long. With 6:57 to play, Travis Zajac took a shot off his upper body from Marek Zidlicky. The puck deflected past goalie Evgeni Nabokov for the winning goal. In addition to limiting the Islanders odd-man rushes, the Devils capitalized on their own chances. New Jersey took a 1-0 lead with 8:23 remaining in the first period when Adam Henrique beat Nabokov as the trailer on an odd-man rush. "We needed this as a group," Schneider said of the win. "Weve been stringing some points together, which is nice. But we couldnt settle for one. I think we needed the two." New Jersey lost to Columbus at home in a shootout on Friday night. The Islanders absorbed their latest tough home loss. New York hasnt won at Nassau Coliseum in regulation since Nov. 12 -- going 1-5-4 during that span. Gary Zimmerman Jersey. This loss came without captain John Tavares, who missed the game because of an undisclosed lower-body injury and had his consecutive games streak snapped at 246. He is day to day. Despite Tavaress absence, the Islanders controlled the puck and put heavy pressure on the Devils, particularly in the third period. But Schneider turned aside all but one of their 14 shots. They received a late power play, but couldnt convert -- leaving them 0 for 3 with the advantage during the game. "It was a typical Islanders-Devils game," New York coach Jack Capuano said. "They got the shot and the bounce at the end." The bounce resulted in one of two goals allowed by Nabokov, who played another solid game. Fresh off a shutout victory over Detroit on Monday, the veteran goalie made 23 saves. "Its a process," Capuano said. "(Weve) got to do a better job teaching these kids, and theyre going to go through some growing pains." NOTES: Devils captain Bryce Salvador returned for the first time since he broke a foot on Oct. 22. The 37 year old defenceman logged a team-high 16:05 of ice time in the first two periods. ... New Jersey LW Mattias Tedenby was a healthy scratch. He is minus-5 in three games since he came back from a two-game conditioning stint in the AHL. ... Tavares consecutive games streak is the fifth longest in Islanders history. ... Islanders 20-year-old centre Ryan Strome was held pointless. He has no goals and just one assist six games into his NHL career. ' ' ' |
