William Nylander‘s goal 1:15 into overtime gave the Toronto Marlies a wild 9-8 overtime win over the St. John’s IceCaps on Saturday night in one of the AHL’s highest-scoring games in recent memory.
The North Division-leading Marlies trailed by four goals in the third period before rallying for their seventh win in nine road games this season. The IceCaps remained unbeaten in regulation on home ice (5-0-2-1).
Nylander (1g, 3a) and Josh Leivo (2g, 2a) had four points apiece for Toronto. Mark Arcobello scored twice and Zach Hyman and Sam Carrick tallied a goal and an assist each, among 14 Marlies skaters to notch a point. Toronto led 3-1 in the first period but gave up seven of the game’s next eight goals, falling behind 8-4 in the opening minute of the third.
IceCaps rookie Michael McCarron tallied two goals and three assists, including a four-point second period. Charles Hudon and Morgan Ellis each recorded two goals and an assist, Bud Holloway added a goal and two assists and Christian Thomas chipped in with a goal and an assist for St. John’s.
Both starting goaltenders allowed eight goals in the game, but neither factored in the decision. Antoine Bibeau stopped 26 of 34 shots for Toronto; Zachary Fucale turned aside 23 of 31 for St. John’s.
The 8-8 score after 60 minutes tied the record for the highest-scoring regulation tie in AHL history. The 17 combined goals were the most in an AHL game since Grand Rapids’ 11-6 victory over Rockford on Jan. 19, 2013.
