Marlies Erupt for Six Goals, Down Wolf Pack 6-3 at Home

Three players hit career milestones Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum, but none of them wore Marlies blue. Toronto still won going away, rolling up six goals to dispatch the Hartford Wolf Pack 6-3 in a game that was effectively over before the third period was three minutes old.

Hartford actually drew first blood for the third consecutive game, with Scott Morrow beating Marlies goaltender Artur Akhtyamov over the right shoulder to put the Wolf Pack ahead early. The lead did not last. Toronto's power play was the story of the middle frame: the Marlies converted their second man-advantage goal of the night just 37 seconds into the second period when William Villeneuve's shot beat Wolf Pack goalie Martin by the glove, clanged off the iron, and bounced directly to Shaw, who buried the rebound for his second goal of the game to make it 2-1.

Twenty-four seconds later, it was 3-1. Luke Haymes muscled his way to the front of the net and stuffed a puck past Martin's right pad at 1:01 of the second period for his 16th goal of the season, the kind of net-front finish that does not require a blueprint to explain: get there before the goalie does.

Hartford answered at 3:03 when Bryce McConnell-Barker's shot from the right-wing wall clipped Brody Lamb in front and bounced by Akhtyamov. Lamb was credited with his first career professional goal on the play, trimming the deficit to 3-2 and momentarily quieting a Coca-Cola Coliseum crowd that had seen the game turn sharply in the first 64 seconds of the period.

That was as close as the Wolf Pack would get. Toronto rebuilt its cushion with three more goals before Landon Sim put the finishing touch on the offensive outburst at 8:39 of the third period, jamming a loose puck home off a scramble in front for his first career AHL goal. The score was 6-2, and Hartford was out of road.

Carey Terrance gave the Wolf Pack something to feel good about at 18:57, tipping a Morrow shot from the right-wing point past Akhtyamov for his seventh goal of the season. The goal completed the rookie's first career three-point game, though it only cosmetically altered a 6-3 final.

Hartford, now finished with a five-game road trip, will visit the Rochester Americans on Sunday afternoon in the only scheduled meeting between the two clubs this season. Puck drop is set for 3:05 p.m., with the Wolf Pack pregame show on AHLTV on FloHockey and Mixlr beginning at 2:50 p.m.