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The Toronto Marlies’ perfect home record fell in disappointing fashion on Saturday evening.

The better team throughout the game, especially in the last 40 minutes, errors in their own zone and lack of a clinical touch in front of the opposition goal ultimately sunk the Marlies.

First Period

The opening 20 minutes were not the Marlies best, but they did manage to open the scoring.

With neither team able to create any sustained pressure in the other’s zone in the early stages, rookie Trevor Moore broke that pattern, gaining possession and circling around the opposition net surveying the ice. His patience was rewarded by Greening drawing an interference penalty, sending the Marlies on the first powerplay of the game with 3:10 on the clock.

It took just 30 seconds for Toronto to cash in. A no-look pass from Kerby Rychel to Brendan Leipsic was followed by an excellent cross-crease feed to Kasperi Kapanen waiting at the backdoor. The Marlies leading scorer cranked a one-timer against iron and in, with a review required from the officials after originally waiving off the goal.

Markus Eisenschmid was presented with a partial breakaway three minutes later, but Viktor Loov did an excellent job of snuffing out the danger.

Dmytro Timashov, back in the line-up, worked some terrific give-and-go play with Leipsic and tried to go top shelf with his shot but Yann Danis was equal to the effort.

Andreas Johnsson then fired wide of the net from the high slot before setting up William Wrenn on the same play, but Danis held onto the long-range shot through traffic.

Antoine Bibeau hadn’t seen much action in the first half of the opening period before he was forced to be sharp on an effort from Jacob de la Rose. He was tested again seconds later by a turnover right in front of Marlies net.

With five minutes remaining, Frederik Gauthier was denied by a fine pad save from the IceCaps netminder but he was able to draw a penalty on the play.

A hooking penalty from Josh Leivo cut the powerplay short but led to some excitement during 4 on 4 play. Two good rushes for Toronto were followed by an odd-man break for the visitors the other way, but Michael McCarron was unable to find Andrighetto.

After the Marlies killed the shortened penalty, Leivo jumped out of the box and stole the puck for Gauthier to lead a 3-on-1 break. The centreman picked out Milan Michalek, who in turn dished it back to Leivo, who really should have scored but was turned aside by Danis.

Second Period

With some strong words ringing in their ears, Toronto came out firing in the middle frame. Gauthier’s line set the tone by hemming the visitors inside their own zone but chances were wasted as the Marlies failed to hit the target from a series of promising positions.

On his next shift, Gauthier found Leivo uncovered in the high slot but his wicked shot brought another fine pad stop from Danis.

At the sixth minute mark, Colin Smith turned provider after some great work on the half wall. He dished off to linemate Andreas Johnsson in the slot, but his attempt was well held by Danis.

Against the run of play, St. John’s tied the game up 57 seconds later. Max Friberg was allowed far too much space, and from the right circle dished off a pass to Eisenschmid crashing the net. The IceCaps forward beat Justin Holl to the puck before solving Bibeau in tight.

To the Marlies credit, their response was almost immediate. Timashov worked his way around two IceCaps before dishing off to Byron Froese waiting to the right of goal. His shot somehow whistled across the crease, neither testing Danis or hitting one of the players involved in the melee in front of goal.

Kapanen then saw his snapshot from a broken play turned aside and Timashov was guilty of not hitting the target from the slot on a perfect feed from Leipsic.

Somewhere in between, a turnover from Andrew Nielsen almost led to the IceCaps taking the lead before another cheap turnover by the Marlies finished the job. Eisenschmid fired a shot that generated a rebound off of Bibeau, and Friberg outworked the defence for the rebound to make it 2-1.

Toronto had to kill a penalty to ensure they didn’t fall further behind, but the IceCaps took a lead into the final 20 minutes having scored twice on five shots.

Third Period

The final 20 minutes led to further Toronto domination as a tired St. John’s team looked to cling onto a slim lead. Colin Greening, Timashov, Froese and Leipsic all came close inside the opening two and a half minutes.

The game should really have a been tied with 5:30 on the clock after Kapanen led an odd-man break down the left side. The Finnish winger found Leivo backdoor, but his attempt was well stopped, although Leivo would have scored if he could’ve elevated the puck.

It was Kapanen stirring the drink again as the third period headed toward the midway point. A blocked shot sent him on a breakaway, where his shot beat Danis but not the crossbar.

Toronto was fortunate to be gifted a power play less than 60 seconds later but it proved an opportunity wasted. St. John’s were lifted after surviving the barrage, and stifled the Marlies by clogging up the neutral zone as time wound down.

Johnsson was guilty of failing to test Danis after another excellent piece of play from Smith as the game entered the last five minutes. Rinat Valiev was the next to try his luck, hitting the net with a long-range shot that generated a rebound. The Marlies were a little unlucky, to say the least, as the puck took a weird bounce and spun away from Froese, who would have had half an empty net to aim at.

A pair of coincidental minors led to some more 4-on-4 play, which essentially became a powerplay for Toronto as Bibeau was pulled with over two minutes remaining. It was all or nothing time, but Danis only had to make one glove save on Leipsic to secure the victory.

Toronto managed just seven shots on net in the final frame and 26 in total despite controlling the play and offensive zone time throughout the final 40 minutes.


Post Game Notes

– For the first time this season, Toronto have lost two straight games.

– The Icecaps lead the season series 2-1 and have out-scored the Marlies 8-5 thus far.

– Kasperi Kapanen’s goal was his eighth of the year (fourth best in the league).

– Brendan Leipsic’s assist on Kapanen’s goal is his 10th powerplay point this season.

– Brooks Laich was a scratch, with Colin Greening taking his place at centre and Dmytro Timashov slotting into the line-up.

– Josh Leivo’s extended conditioning stint has now concluded without him registering a point in five games. Keefe on his play during his stay: “I think he’s had good moments. It hasn’t been the perfect schedule for him for a guy who came down on a conditioning stint. He played two games, basically had six days off, and then he played two, and then six days off, and then he played one. But he couldn’t control that. I thought he worked hard trying to get his legs underneath him. He had some chances today. Normally those types of pucks go in for him. But I think, in terms of him getting some game action and getting healthy and feeling good and getting his conditioning back, he should be feeling good.”


Game Highlights


IceCaps 2 vs. Marlies 1 – Game Sheet

SKATERPOSGAPIMShots+/-
Campbell, AndrewD00010
Valiev, RinatD00030
Holl, JustinD0001-2
Loov, ViktorD00200
Nielsen, AndrewD0001-2
Wrenn, WilliamD00010
Smith, ColinC00010
Froese, ByronC0002-2
Johnsson, AndreasLW00000
Michalek, MilanLW00210
Leipsic, BrendanLW0103-2
Kapanen, KasperiRW10020
Leivo, JoshLW00230
Gauthier, FrederikC00030
Rychel, KerbyLW01010
Greening, ColinC00010
Timashov, DmytroLW0001-2
Moore, TrevorLW00020