By Stan Smith

Marlies Defeat Charlotte Checkers 5-2 And 4-1

I’m putting these two wins together because they were very similar games. These games are what I refer to as “Fan comfort” games. In both games, the Marlies took control fairly early and gradually built up enough of a lead that there was no suspense or nail-biting as time wound down. Having your team score a late goal or hanging on to a one-goal lead can lead to some exciting hockey being played, but those games are also very stressful for fans of the team. These two games had no stress. In each game, the Marlies had a comfortable lead going into the third period and were never in danger of losing. 

In the 5-2 win, Charlotte was leading 2-1 after one period. However, goals by Max Ellis, Ryan Tverberg, and Logan Shaw in the second period gave the Marlies a 4-2 lead going into the third period. Toronto did a good job in the third period not allowing the Checkers much in the way of scoring chances. Shaw scored into the empty net with over three minutes left in the third after Charlotte pulled their goalie early to get the score to within one.  

Alex Steeves opened the scoring for the Marlies in the first period. In addition, Dennis Hildeby had a decent comeback effort giving up just the two goals after being pulled in his previous start. I will say the two goals Hildeby did give up in the first period were not great goals. They were both stoppable and shots that Hildeby was stopping earlier in the season. He did settle down after that and held the Checkers off the scoresheet the rest of the way. Hildeby stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced in the game.

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The Game Was a Bit Boring

In the 4-1 win, there was no scoring in the first period. It was a very boring period with neither team creating much in the way of offense. There were numerous stoppages of play and no real flow to the period.  It was a 1:00 pm start, which is unusual for the Marlies. Maybe they weren’t quite awake yet.

After Steeves and Wilmer Skoog of the Checkers exchanged goals early in the second period, Shaw and Kiefer Bellows scored goals 1:47 apart late in the second. Those goals gave Toronto a 3-1 lead going into the third. Steeves would score his second goal of the game on the power play in the third to close out the scoring. Keith Petruzzelli stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced to get the win.

Cleveland Monsters 7 – Marlies 5

There was nothing comfortable about this game if you are a Marlies fan. For some reason, every game these teams play is a nail-biter. The two teams had met four times previously this season and every game was a one-goal game. Unfortunately for Toronto, every game was a one-goal win for Cleveland. This game was essentially a one-goal game as well. The difference here was the Monsters scoring into the empty net. 

The Marlies were the victim of some bad luck and another subpar performance by Hildeby in this game.  

I am going to regress here a bit. As well, I have been a Toronto Maple Leafs fan for over 55 years. I remember a time when many NHL rinks were unique in their design and all had their personality. There were aspects of some arenas that home teams could take advantage of. The Chicago arena had slats for boards. The Blackhawk players knew if they shot a puck hard against the boards the puck would come off the boards as fast as it went into them. The ice dimensions in Boston were different than most other rinks. In some areas, the stanchions were larger and protruded more. Today NHL rinks are all state-of-the-art and built pretty much the same. Seamless glass is the norm and the boards are all the same material. There is little difference between rinks.  

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The Rink Produced Some Unique Bounces

The same cannot be said for the AHL. The arenas all vary in size from NHL-size down to 5,000-seat 50-year-old barns. Some of them have their uniqueness. In Cleveland apparently, the boards have seams that can catch the puck and deflect it 90% straight out. Twice in this game, Marlies players tried to ring the boards behind their net to teammates on the other side of the ice and had the puck bounce off a seam directly out front of their net to a Monsters forward. Both times it led directly to goals by Cleveland. 

The first time it happened was late in the second period. After falling behind 2-0 in the first period the Marlies came storming back to tie the game on goals by Steeves and Kyle Clifford who returned from a three-game suspension. Mikko Kokkonen picked up a loose puck in the Toronto zone and tried to ring it back behind his net. The puck hit a seam about three feet in front of him and deflected right to Cleveland’s Tyler Angle in front of the Toronto net. Angle appeared to be ready for the deflection and immediately fired it past Hildeby into the net. The play happened so fast that Hildeby had no chance on it. I had to play it back about four times before I realized what had happened. 

The Marlies Came Back to Tie the Game

After Toronto tied the game at 4-4 just past the halfway point of the third period, Dylan Gambrell had the same thing happen to him. He tried to ring the boards only to hit a seam and have the puck deflect out to Trey Fix-Wolanksy. It caught Fix-Wolanksy by surprise this time allowing Gambrell to react and block Fix-Wolanksy’s first and second shot attempts. The second time, after Gambrell blocked the shot, the puck bounced sideways off of him and ended up on the stick of Owen Sillinger who beat Hildeby to put the Monsters up 5-4.  

Max Lajoie tied the game at 5-5 with four minutes left in the third period. However, just over a minute later Sillinger beat Hildeby on the short side with a wrist shot from the face-off dot to the right. There was no screen on the shot and Hildeby just plain missed it. The first goal that Cleveland scored was similar. This time it was an unscreened shot to Hildeby’s glove side that Hildeby missed.  

Hildeby Allows a Lot of Goals

Hildeby was in the net for all six of Cleveland’s goals in this game. He allowed the six goals on just 19 shots, including four goals on the Monsters’ last eight shots. Goaltending is such a strange position. You never know what effect anything will have on a goalie. In Hildeby’s case it seems being called up to the Maple Leafs but not playing and being sent back down has hurt him. Since his return, he was pulled in his first start after giving up three goals on eleven shots. He won his next game but allowed two goals on shots he stopped consistently earlier in the season. Then there was this game.

The Marlies truly deserved a better fate in this game. After being outplayed in the first period and going down 2-0, they completely dominated the last two periods and outshot Cleveland 27-8. They could have easily won the game 6-3 or 6-4.

Individual Performances for the Marlies

Toronto had no problems scoring goals this week. They potted 14 goals in the three games.  

After going through a bit of a slump partially due to a nagging injury, Alex Steeves has rediscovered his scoring touch. He led the team this week with four goals and two assists for six points. Logan Shaw had three goals and added two assists for five points. Ryan Tverberg also had five points (1 goal-4 assists). Joe Blandisi had four points (1 goal-3 assists). Max Lajoie was the highest-scoring defenseman with a goal and three assists. Kieffer Bellows and Max Ellis each had three points. 

Steeves continued to lead the team in scoring with 16 goals and 18 assists for a total of 34 points.  Kieffer Bellows (16 goals-14 assists) and Joe Blandisi (10 goals-20 assists) are tied for second place with 30 points apiece. 

Dennis Hildeby has seen his Save Percentage slide to 0.909% but his Goals Against average is still a decent  2.42.  His Won/Loss record has slipped to 9-7-3. Kieth Petruzzelli has brought his Won/Loss record to 0.500 with his win this week. His overall record sits at 5-5 with a 0.878 Save Percentage and a 3.17 Goals Against Average. 

Marlies Team Standing

The Marlies presently sit in sixth place in the seven-team North Division with 38 points.  They are three points behind the Belleville Senators for the last playoff spot in the Division with two games in hand. 

What’s Next?

The Marlies continue on their lengthy road trip with a visit to Lehigh Valley to take on the Phantoms on Friday night. They lost their previous visit to Lehigh Valley 2-1. They then move on to Hershey to take on the Atlantic Division-leading Hershey Bears on Saturday. The Bears have the best record in the AHL at 32-7. This is the first time these teams have met this season. 

Related: The Good, Bad, & Ugly in Maple Leafs 1-0 OT Win Over the Jets

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