TPS centerman Viljami Marjala continued to make an immediate impact upon his return from injury Friday, netting a goal and three assists for the first four-point night of his Liiga career to help Turku to a 6-4 victory over Assat Pori.
Marjala was right on the spot on his first shift of the game, gliding to the right side of the net to gobble up a rebound on his first of six shots on goal to give TPS the 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the opening period.
Marjala, who earned 20:46 of work in the victory, continued collecting points with a pair of power-play helpers, the second of which (below) came on a smooth transition play 16 seconds into the final frame that saw him play a quick game of catch with Jean-Christophe Beaudin to make it a 3-3 game.
Marjala would cap the night with an assist on an empty-net goal.
With TPS guarding a one-goal lead with under two minutes to play, Marjala was tabbed to take the key defensive zone draw. He succeeded by controlling the faceoff and passing the puck to defenseman Max Lindroth, who sent the long putt the length of the ice for his second consecutive hat trick. Lindroth becomes the first defenseman in Liiga history to record a hat trick in back-to-back games.
Marjala has stabilized the TPS attack, picking up five points and a shootout winner in his first two games back to push his club to back-to-back victories for the first time this season. He’ll look to lead them to a third-straight win when TPS and Assat get right back at it on Saturday to complete the home-and-home series.
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