Rynnas the difference as Toronto Marlies defeat Chicago Wolves 4-2

TORONTO - Jesse Blacker scored the winner and Jussi Rynnas made 24 saves Saturday as the Toronto Marlies downed the Chicago Wolves 4-2 in the American Hockey League.

Mike Zigomanis and Joe Colborne scored on the power play for Toronto, while Carter Ashton added an empty-netter as the Marlies improved to 25-15-4 in front of 5,399 fans at Ricoh Coliseum. Colborne and Blacker each added assists, with Jake Gardiner chipping in with two of his own.

Bill Sweatt and Andrew Gordon scored for Chicago (23-16-5). Darren Haydar had two assists, while Wolves goalie Matt Climie blocked 20 of 23 shots for the loss.

The Marlies led 1-0 after the first period and were ahead 3-1 through 40 minutes. Toronto was 2-for-5 with the man advantage, while Chicago went 0-for-2.

Chicago scored early in the third and outshot Toronto 12-7 in the third, but Rynnas was sharp in making a couple of point-blank saves with the game on the line.

Zigomanis opened the scoring when he finished off a give-and-go with Tim Connolly by one-timing a shot past Climie's blocker for a power-play goal at 16:27 of the first period.

Colborne gave the Marlies a 2-0 lead when he squeezed a wraparound between Climie's skate and the right goalpost for another power-play marker at 4:28 of the second period. The Wolves closed the gap less than a minute later when Sweatt one-timed a high shot from the slot past Rynnas at 5:14. Blacker made it 3-1 for Toronto when he fired a shot from the left faceoff circle past Climie at 14:17 of the second.

Gordon pulled the Wolves to within a goal when he snapped a shot past Rynnas at 5:23 of the third period, but Ashton closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal at 18:55.

The Marlies host the Texas Stars on Sunday, while the Wolves welcome the Charlotte Checkers on Thursday.