TORONTO -- Keith Aucoin had a four-point game and Ben Scrivens made 30 saves as the Toronto Marlies defeated the St.John's IceCaps 4-2 in American Hockey League action Saturday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum.
Aucoin had a empty-net goal to go with three assists, passing Oklahoma City Barons defenceman Justin Schultz for first in the AHL with 26 assists.
Spencer Abbott, Ryan Hamilton and Simon Gysbers scored the other goals for Toronto (17-9-2), which moved into a tie with Abbotsford atop the North Division, pending the Heat's game against the Rockford IceHogs on Saturday night.
Raymond Sawada and Ben Maxwell had the goals for St. John's (15-15-1), while Eddie Pasquale stopped 23 shots in defeat.
The loss for St. John's meant it was in danger of dropping into last place in the Atlantic Division if the Manchester Monarchs won their game against the Portland Pirates on Saturday night.
The IceCaps dominated the first period, outshooting Toronto 12-5 and taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Sawada opened the scoring at 15:14 just as Korbinian Holzer's holding penalty expired. Zach Redmond took a wrist shot from the point that Sawada deflected in for his seventh of the season.
Despite being outshot 12-9 in the second, the Marlies came away with a pair of goals to take the lead into the final frame.
Toronto got on the board at 15:02 when Aucoin made a cross-ice pass to Abbott, who snapped a shot top corner on the short side past Pasquale.
It looked like Toronto had taken a 2-1 lead later in the period when Nicolas Deschamps scored off a goalmouth scramble. It was ruled a goal by the referee, but was overturned on review because the puck didn't cross the goal line.
But the Marlies did eventually take the lead with a little more than three minutes to play in the period. Off the rush, Jesse Blacker stopped just inside the IceCaps blue-line and found a streaking Hamilton, who tipped the puck past Pasquale.
It was Hamilton's 12th goal of the season to lead the team.
Toronto made it a 3-1 game with Patrice Cormier off on a five-minute major for boarding defenceman Mike Kostka. Carter Ashton's shot was stopped by Pasquale, but Gysbers charged in from the blue-line to backhand in the rebound.
St. John's pulled Pasquale with more than two minutes to play and managed to make it 3-2 on a goal by Maxwell at 17:53. But Aucoin sealed the game with an empty-netter a minute later.
The Marlies' next game is Boxing Day at Air Canada Center when they host the Hamilton Bulldogs. The IceCaps are off until Dec. 28 when they visit Hamilton.
Notes: Jake Gardiner missed his sixth straight game with a head injuryaAnnounced attendance was 5,991.
