FLAMES STAVE OFF MARLIES IN 5-4 VICTORY

Glens Falls, NY – The Adirondack Flames took down the Toronto Marlies in a thriller on Saturday evening by a final score of 5-4 in front of 3,930 fans at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

On this night it was the line of Markus Granlund, Devin Setoguchi, and Kenny Agostino that led the way for the Flames, as all three forwards turned in multi-point games; two goals for Granlund, a goal and an assist for Setoguchi, and a pair of assists for Agostino. Max Reinhart and recent acquisition Brant Harris also added goals on the evening, while David Wolf, Nolan Yonkman, Brett Kulak, and Bill Arnold all had an assist in the game. With points for both Agostino and Arnold, the two rookie forwards extended their point streaks to five and four games respectively. Doug Carr was solid in net with 35 saves to earn his second victory of the season in his first start at the Civic Center.

The Flames came out of the gate flying, as they opened the scoring just 3:48 into the contest when Setoguchi netted his third goal of the season, and second in as many nights. After he gained control of the puck in the trapezoid behind the Toronto net, the veteran of over 450 NHL games followed up the play to find his own rebound in the crease, which he lifted up and over Antoine Bibeau to put the Flames ahead 1-0. The opening marker was unassisted.

Adirondack doubled its lead less than three minutes later when Max Reinhart put home his 11th goal of the season. Just moments after he stepped out of the penalty box, David Wolf corralled the puck through the neutral zone and raced up the right wing. When he hit the top of the far faceoff circle, Wolf swung a pass across the way to Reinhart, who wasted no time and put the puck over the glove of Bibeau to light the lamp. Wolf and Yonkman earned the assists on Reinhart’s goal, which came at the 6:40 mark of the opening period.

The Flames continued their offensive assault when Markus Granlund scored to put Adirondack ahead by three just 9:44 into the game. Skating with the man-advantage, the Flames cycled the puck around the zone, and when Kulak sent a pass from the left point over to the right circle to Granlund, the Finnish native ripped a shot past Bibeau’s blocker to extend the Flames’ lead to 3-0. Kulak and Agostino were credited with the assists on the Granlund tally.

A mere 24 seconds following Granlund’s marker, the Marlies found their way onto the scoreboard when William Nylander scored his fifth goal of the campaign. After forcing a turnover in the offensive zone, Nylander maneuvered the puck around the netmouth, waited patiently for Carr to go down, and beat him from the right side of the net to cut the Flames’ lead to 3-1. Nylander’s goal was unassisted and came at 10:08 of the first period.

After just over seven scoreless minutes, Adirondack tied its season high of four goals in a single period, when Brant Harris, who was signed to a PTO earlier that day from the Florida Everblades of the ECHL, received a perfect backhand feed from behind the goal line from Arnold and ripped a one-time blast from the slot past the glove of netminder Christopher Gibson, who had entered the game in relief of Bibeau. The goal for Harris, which was his first AHL goal of the season and the second of his career, came at 17:16 of the first, as Arnold earned the lone assist on the tally.

The Marlies pulled back within two at 14:21 of the middle stanza when Josh Leivo potted his ninth goal of the year. After breaking down the ice with an odd-man rush, Brendan Mikkelson sent the puck towards the net, a shot which Leivo tipped in on Carr. After he made the first save, the Adirondack netminder was unable to control the rebound from the initial shot, at which point Leivo found the loose puck in the crease and poked it past Carr and into the back of the net. Mikkelson was credited with the lone assist on Leivo’s goal.

It only took the Marlies 17 seconds of play in the third period to cut the Flames’ advantage to 4-3, as Nylander scored his second goal of the game, sixth of the season. The 18-year-old AHL rookie was first to the rebound off of a Matt Frattin shot, which he proceeded to put past Carr to pull the Marlies within one. Frattin was credited with the singular assist on the tally, which came on the power play.

The Flames quickly responded just 40 seconds after Nylander’s goal with one of their own to retake the two goal advantage. Adirondack entered the offensive zone and Kenny Agostino sauced the puck over to Setoguchi, who then fed it over to Granlund who finished the play by tapping the puck past Gibson and into the net for his second goal of the evening and ninth of the year. Setoguchi and Agostino earned the assists on the fifth Adirondack goal of the game, which came at the 57 second mark of the third.

Toronto wasn’t finished yet, however, as Ryan Rupert once again got the Marlies within one at 7:29 of the final frame. After Toronto won the draw in the offensive zone, Connor Brown threw the puck towards the Adirondack net from a sharp angle. The shot from Brown then deflected off the stick of Rupert right in front of Carr, and the puck slid into the cage to cut the Adirondack lead to 5-4. Brown’s assist was the only one awarded on Rupert’s 12th goal on the season.

The Flames will complete their busy weekend tomorrow afternoon when they will take on the Binghamton Senators at the Civic Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Tomorrow’s game will feature the Adirondack Hockey Hall of Fame Induction ceremony for both Joe Paterson and Doug Neely. A pre-game reception with the inductees themselves will take place in Heritage Hall at 2:30 p.m., open to the public for $10, and a post-game skate with the team will occur following the conclusion of the contest. Tickets are available to the general public for the game, as well as the pre-game reception through the Flames office. To secure your tickets, visit the Flames box office, call 518-480-3355, or order online at glensfallscc.com.

Adirondack Flames Hockey • Fired Up

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