Charles Hudon scored twice for the St. John’s IceCaps but they fell 5-3 to the Toronto Marlies Friday night at Mile One Centre.
Toronto started the scoring with back-to-back first period markers from Steve Oleksy and Brendan Leipsic before the IceCaps’ Hudon scored his first of the evening on the power play, from Joel Hanley and Chris Terry.
The Marlies added another goal just 23 seconds into the middle frame, but the IceCaps battled back to tie it up with Hudon’s second of the night (unassisted), and a shorthanded tally from Jacob de la Rose (from Stefan Matteau and Charlie Lindgren).
The tie was broken just 20 seconds later with a goal from Toronto’s Seth Griffith, and after an almost scoreless third frame, the Marlies hit the IceCaps empty net to seal the win.
Lindgren stopped 19 shots for St. John’s, while Marlies netminder Garret Sparks turned aside 25 for the visitors.
The IceCaps can still clinch the final Northern Division playoff spot Saturday evening.
The IceCaps wrap up the 2016-17 regular season with a rematch against the Toronto Marlies Saturday night at Mile One
