Marlies hit Hershey for six
William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown, Frederick Gauthier, Garret Sparks, and Antoine Bibeau.
All those players have been immensely influential during their time with the Marlies, but all were absent for a variety of reasons heading into Hershey on Saturday evening.
While putting extra emphasis on those left to step up their game, the holes in the roster have given opportunities to others on the periphery.
Playing their ninth game in 16 days, six of those on the road, the Toronto Marlies once more dug deep into their reserves to come up with a performance that will see them enjoy their Christmas break all the more.
Ray Emery was making his Marlies debut and made a positive start with a good right pad save a minute in.
By the way, Ray Emery has the Flyers logo on his mask taped over. pic.twitter.com/cfaOjh6FRN
— Kyle Mace (@kyle_mace) December 20, 2015
An early power play for Toronto resulted in one great chance for Soshnikov, but for once the impressive Russian forward tried to be a little too cute with the opportunity.
Hershey killed the penalty and used that momentum to dominate in the Marlies zone.
Emery made one big save and was thankful to see the rebound effort hit the post, but the luck ran out soon after. It was of no surprise to see Chris Borque involved, as he laid the puck back for Madison Bowey, who in turn found Aaron Ness with a beautiful feed at the backdoor. Back from the NHL, Ness fired home his first AHL goal of the season.
To Toronto’s credit, they responded with two good shifts but were unable to really test Dan Ellis.
At the eight minute mark, Josh Leivo could only fire wide from a promising position. It felt as though, as much as the Marlies were pressing, they required a spark to get themselves really going.
It would come courtesy of the home team, as Chandler Stephenson mashed Brendan Leipsic into the boards at the red line. The Hershey centreman was fortunate to only receive a two-minute boarding call, but thirty seconds later the Bears were down by two men as Matt Frattin was the victim of a slash.
Mark Arcobello is not a man unduly rushed; from the left side, he took Brennan’s pass and showed patience before picking his spot stick-side on Dan Ellis to tie the game up.
Out of the box, Chandler Stephenson almost redeemed himself with a shorthanded goal as he chipped the puck past Brennan to head alone on net. Cue the first of Emery’s big saves to deny Hershey from regaining the lead.
Toronto’s penalty kill would have to hold firm later in the first period to ensure things were on level pegging after an evenly-balanced first twenty minutes.
The Marlies came out in the middle frame like caged tigers and responded by taking the lead with just 29 seconds on the clock. The Clune-Carrick-Hyman line was making an absolute nuisance of themselves, winning the puck back along the end boards. Back out to Viktor Loov, the defenseman found Carrick in front. Although his effort was denied, Zach Hyman was on hand to reach around behind Ellis and deposit the rebound.
Ray Emery was certainly looking more comfortable as each minute passed in this game and a pair of saves around the four minute mark, especially the second which was a brilliant instinctive stop from in tight, kept Toronto in front.
Jack Rodewald and Brett Findlay have been the beneficiary of opportunities on the Marlies roster and they almost combined for the third goal. Rodewald drove to the net before dropping a pass to Findlay, who ripped a shot that flew off the top of the crossbar and into the netting.
Brendan Leipsic’s impressive play, especially of late, was finally rewarded with a goal at the eight-minute mark. Frattin supplied the feed before Leipsic took the puck around Ellis and banked his shot in off the defenseman, who had flung himself across the goal line in desperation.
It took just 80 seconds for 3-1 to become 4-1 as the home side allowed Stuart Percy time and space from the high slot and the defenseman took advantage by perfectly picking his spot with a tremendous wrist shot.
That would see the end of Dan Ellis’ evening between the pipes as the Bears yanked him in favour of Justin Peters.
It certainly had the intended influence on the home team as they responded with a response inside 90 seconds.
The flurry of goals continued, as a wonderful pass from Bowey — a defenseman with tremendous vision — sent Camper off and away down the left side. Driving to the net, his shot over the shoulder of Emery gave the Toronto goaltender little chance of making the save.
Emery was called on to preserve the lead inside the last eight minutes of the period as Hershey pushed hard to draw within one. Paul Carey was twice frustrated by Emery on the same play, while Chandler Stephenson was presented with a gilt-edge chance after a giveaway in front and was also denied.
A powerplay opportunity for Hershey with five minutes to play in the second period felt like a big moment in the game. Remarkably, after the shorthanded shenanigans in Wilkes-Barre Scranton the previous evening, Toronto came within inches of scoring yet another goal while down a man.
Hyman had himself quite the game in this one and drove to the Hershey net, holding off the trailing Bears player before seeing his five-hole effort only just denied by Peters.
Another fine save by Emery, this time on a tipped effort by Sean Collins, ensured a two-goal cushion for the Marlies heading into the final twenty minutes.
The next goal was always going to be decisive and Hershey were once again the architects of their own downfall, no more so than Erik Burgdoerfer. Frattin laid a big but clean hit on the defenseman, who took umbrage and retaliated with a cheap shot. Frattin stood up for himself in the ensuing melee. When all was said and done, Burgdoerfer ended up with a 10-5-and-2, leading to a Marlies power play.
A TJ Brennan blast, fired across Peters, found its way into the top corner of the net for a 5-2 lead.
To Hershey’s credit, they refused to quit at any point, forcing the Marlies back and Emery to be on his game. From the seven minutes mark until around the midway point of the period, they laid siege to the visitors net but Toronto held firm.
Frustrations were mounting and Tyler Lewington took exception to Richard Panik in particular, attempting to fight everyone wearing a blue jersey, including man mountain Andrew Campbell.
The Bears defenseman was sent packing and some four on four hockey entailed.
It was when the penalty box emptied that we witnessed the sixth Marlies marker and final goal of the game.
An absolutely beauty it was as well, with T.J Brennan from the right circle firing high into the net past Peters, who had little chance from that range. Making that goal even sweeter for Brennan was that he was able to celebrate it right in front of 22 of his family members whom he’d bought tickets to the game.
The Marlies saw out the remaining seven minutes of the game for a 6-2 victory and head back to Toronto for a well-deserved Christmas break.
Post Game Notes
– Ray Emery became the sixth goaltender to play for the Marlies during this regular season, which is a franchise record. He is also the sixth goalie to record a victory and the fourth to do so on Marlies debut this season. This was a more than admirable performance from Emery, who hasn’t played a whole lot this season, as he made 23 saves for the victory.
– The point streaks extends to nine games for the Marlies, who are a remarkable 8-0-1 in December.
– That’s the 15th road win for Toronto in just 17 games. There are twenty teams in the AHL who haven’t even recorded 15 wins total this season.
– T.J Brennan recorded his first three-point game of the season and his goals tally is now up to eleven.
– He’s moved back into the scoring lead for all defenseman and is sixth overall in the league with 26 points.
– Another to register a three-point game was Mark Arcobello. His fifth power play goal of the season is team leading, and he’s currently riding a four-game goal streak.
– Leipsic and Hyman both recorded a pair of points and had standout performances for different reasons. Hyman is responding to the extra opportunities and responsibilities with relish, and that’s exactly what the management would be hoping for.
– Stuart Percy recorded his third goal of the season, although it’s his first that’s not an empty net marker. His twelve points already surpasses last year’s total in what was a difficult sophomore season for him.
Game Highlights
Marlies Player Stats – Toronto 6 vs. Hershey 2
| PLAYERS | G | A | +/- | SH | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brennan, T.J. | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Harrington, Scott | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Percy, Stuart | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Hyman, Zach | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Rodewald, Jack | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Leivo, Josh | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Carrick, Sam | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Clune, Richard | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Panik, Richard | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Leipsic, Brendan | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Rupert, Ryan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Arcobello, Mark | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| Findlay, Brett | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frattin, Matt | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Loov, Viktor | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 |
| Soshnikov, Nikita | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
