Kapanen and Nylander light up scoresheet in Marlies Win

William Nylander and Kasperi Kapanen are the youngest forward duo in the AHL, but they might also be the best. The Scandinavians came out in full force today, both having multi-point games in a 6-4 Marlies victory.

I touched a bit on Kapanen yesterday when he made his return to the Marlies lineup yesterday. There were times that he looked dangerous and he nearly picked up a pair of goals, but was ultimately held pointless. Today was a very different story; he picked up the game’s opening goal just fifty-three seconds in on one of his four shots on net. In the second period, he picked up two primary assists, feeding Nylander and Mark Arcobello, who finally snapped his one-game point drought.

Nylander is still on his point streak. Not only did he have the goal that Kapanen first assisted on, he was the one who set up Kasperi’s original tally. Interestingly enough, the two weren’t actually playing on the same line at even strength; the first goal came on the powerplay, and the second at four-on-four. 

Beyond the two 19-year-olds, the Marlies had an interesting path to a 6-4 win. Toronto were up 4-2 until about nine minutes left in regulation, and the Senators pulled within one on two occasions. As well, Toronto took just four shots in the first period before exploding for 22 in the second. Eventually, Brendan Leipsic picked up the game-winner, pushing back Binghamton’s comeback before it could fully succeed. Stuart Percy added an empty netter that was so close to the final buzzer that it wasn’t confirmed until after the game had ended.

Toronto returns to the ice on Saturday when they take on the Syracuse Crunch in upstate New York.