Sitting third in the North Division, the Marlies only trail Albany and Syracuse by two points and are by far the most in-form team among their division rivals. The AHL’s playoff primer is already up and running, with the Marlies magic number sitting at 38 points with 22 games remaining.
For the second consecutive week, the Marlies were comprehensively outshot, managing to hit the 30-shot mark just once themselves. They were fortunate to take four points from Manitoba after giving up 37 shots in both games.
Special teams were again a positive difference this week — the powerplay remains top four after striking three times at a rate of 21%, while the penalty kill’s rise up the rankings continues apace.