By Stan Smith
One of the longest age-old arguments about hockey is how much luck plays a role in the game. Some claim it is the biggest factor in deciding who wins or loses. Others admit it plays a role, but that role is minimal. Whichever side of the argument we fall on, it would be difficult to watch this Toronto Marlies game and say that luck did not play a major role in the outcome.
Related: Marlies Finish Regular Season On Sour Note: Playoffs Coming
While Game 1 Had Nothing to Do with Luck, Game 2 Was Different
The Senators’ 3-1 win over the Marlies in Belleville in Game 1 of the series had nothing to do with luck. If any luck were involved in that game, the Marlies were lucky the score wasn’t worse. The Senators’ dominant performance could easily have been 5, 6, or 7-1.
This game started again for the Marlies like the last one, with the first shot leading to Toronto opening the scoring. Just 59 seconds in, Kyle Clifford shoveled a rebound off a point shot by Matteo Petroniro to Joseph Blandisi. Blandisi got the puck up and over a sprawling Mads Sogaard to put the Marlies up 1-0.
In Game 1, Belleville took over shortly after Toronto took the 1-0 lead. They never looked back. They ran the Marlies out of the rink for the rest of the game. In this game, the Marlies kept coming for the remainder of the first period. Toronto outshot Belleville 12-7 in the opening frame.
The First Indication of Marlies Luck
The first indication of luck for the Marlies happened at 3:07 of the second period. Sogaard skated behind his goal to play a dump-in by Blandisi. He mishandled the puck, bouncing it off his stick right out front of the net. Clifford was skating full tilt into the zone to exert pressure on the dump-in, alone in front, when the puck came right to him. He had a wide-open cage in which to deposit the puck and did so to up the score to 2-0.
Just over eight minutes into the second, the bounces really started going the Marlies’ way. With Belleville swarming all over the Toronto zone, a shot by Matthew Highmore hit Hildeby square in the mask. Hildeby was not hurt by the shot, and the puck bounced into the corner. After Belleville won a battle for the puck in the corner, Maxence Guenette found himself alone in front of the Toronto net with the puck on his stick.
With Hildeby down, Guenette rang the puck off the crossbar. The puck bounced up in the air and came back down in the Toronto crease. Guenette and Blandisi got their sticks on the puck simultaneously, and the puck bounced up and off the crossbar once again. The net was knocked off its mooring. The puck went straight up in the air off the crossbar and landed on top of the net.
The Belleville players claimed the puck had gone in. After a lengthy video review, it was ruled the puck did not go into the net.
Then the Marlies Get Even More Luck
Then, 20 seconds afterward, Highmore was left alone in front of Hildeby again and fired a high wrister at the net. The puck appeared to hit the crossbar and the post. Highmore raised his hands, celebrating a goal, but the referee behind the net waved it off immediately. After the next stoppage of play, there was another lengthy review. Once again, it was ruled that the puck did not enter the goal.
The Senators kept coming. Just over a minute later, Donavon Sebrango fired a wrist shot from the faceoff dot to the left of Hildeby that managed to miss the crossbar and go in the net to pull Belleville to within a goal at 2-1.
With 6:05 left in the second, it was “deja vu all over again.” Rourke Chartier fired a shot from the same place as Highmore’s previous shot and rang it off of something. The referee signaled a goal. While Belleville celebrated, the Marlies all argued the puck did not go into the net.
This time, there was a lengthy review that lasted ten minutes. (I want to insert a little complaint about AHL TV. While the review continued, the announcers viewed multiple replays that were not shown on AHL TV. Their streaming service does not have a slow-motion option.)
I replayed it several times but could not determine if the puck went off the crossbar or the back support of the goal. The puck did “clank” off of something. However, I could not determine if it was the crossbar or the support on the back of the net. In the end, it was ruled that, once again, the puck went off the crossbar and did not cross the goal line. Belleville hit four crossbars and a post in just over five minutes.
The good bounces were not done for the Marlies. Two minutes later, a point shot by Tommy Miller was deflected into the air. The Belleville players on the ice all signaled to the referee that the puck had hit the mesh, but no call was made. While the Belleville players were arguing the play should be blown dead, Zach Solow picked up the loose puck behind the goal and passed it back to the point to Marshall Rifai. Rifai one-timed a slapshot that beat Sogaard on the glove side to restore Toronto’s two-goal lead. All four officials met to discuss the play. In the end, it was ruled a good goal.
Just as Suddenly, Luck Changed for the Marlies
With 1:41 left in the second, disaster struck for the Marlies. Clifford nailed Tyler Kleven into the boards from behind in front of the benches. Kleven fell face-first into the dasher and stayed down on the ice. Clifford was given a 5-minute major for boarding and game misconduct. Just 54 seconds into the major, Garrett Pilon deflected a point shot from Jacob Larsson past Hildeby, and the second period ended with the score 3-2 Toronto.
The third period started with the Senators having control of the puck in the Toronto zone on the power play for a full three minutes. Finally, a missed pass sent the puck the length of the ice. Not a Toronto player got control of the puck for three minutes. Only an errant pass by Belleville ultimately cleared the zone, allowing the exhausted Toronto players to get off the ice and the penalty to expire.
The remainder of the third period was played in the Toronto end of the rink, with the Senators buzzing. Hildeby made numerous saves to hold the lead. Blandisi did get in alone on Sogaard with just over four minutes to go in the period, but he was stopped by Sogaard.
It Seemed Inevitable that the Senators Would Tie the Game
It seemed inevitable that the Senators would tie the game. Belleville was all over the Marlies. To make matters worse, with 1:33 left, Logan Shaw knocked the stick out of a Belleville player’s hands and was given a 2-minute slashing penalty. [As a note, Shaw’s Upper Deck hockey card is the feature image on this post.]
With Sogaard on the bench and the teams playing six-on-four, Blandisi blocked a point shot and was away on a breakaway with the Belleville net empty. The game was over……or was it?
A Belleville player dived in an attempt to block Blandisi’s shot but came up well short. However, Blandisi flubbed his shot from about ten feet out, and the puck bounced harmlessly into the corner.
As you might expect, Belleville came back down the ice and scored the equalizer with 20 seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
One More Lucky Marlies Bounce to Win the Game in Overtime
In the first minute of overtime, Lady Luck showed she was still working on the Marlies side. Blandisi had a great scoring chance when he was left alone in front of the Belleville net, but he shot the puck high and wide. The puck landed along the goalline to the left of Sogaard. With his back to the goal, Dylan Gambrell batted the puck toward the net as he was turning in the opposite direction away from the net. The puck bounced toward the net, and the last bounce sent it over Sogaard’s stick and into the goal.
I really can’t help but think this series should be over. Except for the first 28 minutes of Game 2, Belleville has been all over the Marlies, but they didn’t win.
The two teams head back to Belleville for the third and deciding game of the three-game series. If the Marlies want their season to continue, they will have to play much better than they have for most of the first two games.
Related: Toronto Marlies Lay An Egg In 3-1 Loss To Belleville Senators