By Stan Smith
The one thing I have noticed watching the Toronto Marlies’ games is they are very similar to their parent team the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Like the Maple Leafs, the Marlies went winless this past week. Also like the Maple Leafs, they were scoring at a high enough rate to overcome their mistakes, until this past week. This week they were still making the mistakes. However, the Marlies were unable to score enough to overcome them.
The Marlies only scored more than one goal once in the three games, losing two of them by 2-1 scores. One loss was in regulation, and another in a shootout. In the game in which they scored more than one goal, they scored three goals. However, they also gave up four.
The Marlies are missing some of their best players. After missing one game due to a nagging injury, Alex Steeves was called up to the Maple Leafs to join Bobby McMann who was already with the big club. After John Klingberg was placed on LTIR and Conor Timmins was activated, the Maple Leafs recalled Simon Benoit. They are also without Roni Hirvonen, Ryan Tverberg, and Kyle Clifford due to injuries.
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Game One: Lehigh Valley Phantoms 2 – Marlies 1
The first contest of the week was a home game versus the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Tuesday. It was not only a low-scoring game, it was a game that was slow and plodding. Neither team created many scoring chances. The Phantoms did outshoot the Marlies 34-25 in the game, but most of the shots by either team came from the outside. They were not from dangerous scoring areas.
Special teams made the difference in the game. After the Marlies failed to score on three power plays in a row in the second period, the Phantoms scored on a power play of their own to go up 1-0.
Once again, in the third period, the Marlies failed to capitalize when Ethan Samson took a cross-checking penalty. Ten seconds after the penalty expired the Phantoms scored to go ahead 2-0. With just over five minutes left in the game, Kieffer Bellows one-timed a cross-ice pass from Joseph Blandisi to pull the Marlies back to one goal down. The Phantoms did a good job of shutting the Marlies down after that including killing off a second penalty taken by Samson and the game ended 2-1.
Game Two: Cleveland Monsters 2 – Marlies 1
The Marlies travelled to Cleveland Friday night to take on the first-place Monasters in the first game of a home-and-home series. Toronto trailed Cleveland by three points.
This game was the complete opposite of the Phantoms game. It was a fast-paced, wide-open affair in which the Marlies dominated. Toronto outshot the Monsters 42-23 in the game. Broken down by periods, the shots were 12-5, 11-8, and 15-7 in each of the three periods. The Marlies led in shots in overtime by a margin of 4-2.
Many of the scoring chances the Marlies had in the game were of the High Danger variety. Unfortunately for them, they could only get one puck past Cleveland goalie Pavel Cajan. It was a wrister by Dimitry Ovchinikov from the slot at 7:20 of the second period.
The lead lasted only over four minutes as Trey Fix-Wolansky tied it up for the Monsters. That was only scoring in regulation or overtime as the game went to a shootout.
In the shootout, Fix-Wolansky and Kent Johnson each got one past Marlies’ goalie Dennis Hildeby while Ovchinikov was the only Marlie to beat Cajan.
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Game Three: Cleveland Monsters 4 – Marlies 3
The two teams travelled to Toronto for the second game of the series on Sunday afternoon. There were similarities in this game to the one in Cleveland but also some differences. Once again the Marlies had the edge in puck possession and most of the game was played in the Cleveland zone. However, this time the Marlies gave the Monsters too many rush chances. Cleveland was also much better at keeping most of Toronto’s play to the outside and limiting their good scoring chances.
Toronto opened the scoring in the first period of this game. On a bit of a strange play, Zach Solow carried the puck into the Cleveland zone but was checked and lost it three times on pokechecks. Each time he was quick enough with his stick to check the Monster player back and reclaim the puck. He circled back behind the Cleveland net and passed the puck back to the left point to Max Lajoie before heading to the front of the net. Lajoie passed the puck over to Topi Niemela. Niemela laid a perfect pass down to Solow in front of Cleveland goalie Jet Reaves. Solow deflected the puck over Reaves to record his first goal of the season in 12 games played.
The Monsters scored a goal late in the first and another in the second to take a 2-1 lead.
On an almost identical play to the first goal, Pontus Holmberg circled the Monster’s zone with the puck before passing it behind the Cleveland net to Logan Shaw. The puck then found its way back to Tommy Miller at the right point. He found Holmberg in front of the net and Holmberg deflected it passed Reaves from the same spot Solow did in the first period.
The Marlies went ahead 3-2 on a giveaway from Monsters’ goalie Reaves. Reaves came out behind the net to play a Marlies’ dump-in but passed the puck along the boards right to Nick Abruzzese. Abruzzese passed the puck out front and Solow backhanded the puck on net. Reaves stopped it; but, the rebound went to Dylan Gambrell who banged it under Reaves into the goal.
The lead lasted exactly 24 seconds. On a face-off in the Cleveland zone, Holmberg wins the draw and Bellows passes the puck back to Lajoie at the left point. Lajoie misplays the puck allowing it to get behind him. The monsters’ Emil Bemstrom beat Lajoie to the puck and broke in alone on Martin Jones, who made his first start since joining the Maple Leafs on their Sweden trip. Bemstron beat Jones over his left shoulder to tie the game. I am sure that getting scored on right after scoring a goal and having a goal on a costly turnover are two things Maple Leafs fans are very familiar with
Once again the two teams headed for overtime. The Marlies had lots of possession in the overtime. However, they overplayed the puck and turned it over countless times. Finally, Bemstrom walked in off the right boards with 37 seconds left in the overtime and went forehand to backhand to beat Jones and win the game.
Marlies Notes
Dennis Hildeby can’t get any goal support. He has been playing great, giving up only ten goals in his seven starts. He leads the AHL with a 1.42 Goals-Against Average and a 0.943 Save Percentage. But, the Marlies have lost four of the seven games Hildeby has started. Two of those losses have been in regulation, one in overtime, and one in a shootout. Three of Hildeby’s four losses ended in 2-1 scores for the opposition.
That contrasts with a combined record for Jones and Keith Petruzzelli of 5-3-2 despite both goalies having an identical 3.37 GAA and an average Save Percentage of 0.872.
In a week that saw the Marlies score just five goals ten different players had one point each. The only two players with multiple points were Zach Solow and Dylan Gambrell with a goal and an assist each.
After 17 games, the Marlies have a record of 8-5-3-1 and sit in fourth place in the North Division with 20 points. Toronto plays two games this coming weekend, another home and home. This time it is against the Syracuse Crunch, who are tied for second in the North Division with the Rochester Americans, two points ahead of the Marlies.
The two teams play in Syracuse on Friday night before returning to Toronto for a Saturday afternoon tilt. They have only 21 hours between the start of each game.
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