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Despite beating the same opposition by a 6-2 score on Thursday evening, Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe was not a happy man during the post-game presser, upset at his team’s performance and lack of structure.

He’s actually been preaching this for a while now, and it’s come home to roost in two of the last three games against bottom-ranked teams.

The early signs proved Keefe right as Toronto allowed their hosts to dominate proceedings, resulting in Manitoba registering ten straight shots without response.

It took just 47 seconds for the hosts to open the scoring as Toronto’s sloppiness saw them fail to clear the zone properly. A pass from Matt Fraser took three poorly-positioned Toronto players out of the equation before Chase DeLeo went high to beat Garret Sparks.

Sparks almost cost his team a second with poor management of the puck along the backboard, while Rich Clune rescued Nikita Soshnikov after a giveaway in front.

Almost inevitably, Toronto took the first penalty of the game, but they survived with ease on this occasion. Upon exiting the box, Josh Leivo was the beneficiary of a wayward pass from Manitoba, allowing him to head to the net unattended. His effort rang off Comrie’s left post and away to safety.

After finally getting their game together, the Marlies drew their first penalty and took full advantage. William Nylander bewitched the Moose penalty kill, looking as though he had the puck on a string before sliding a pass across to Kasperi Kapanen on his left. Despite mishandling the puck, Kapanen showed composure before rifling home past Eric Comrie.

The second half of the opening frame was all Toronto as they outshot their hosts 13-1 in the final ten minutes.

An intelligent shot from Hyman produced a rebound of Comrie’s pad for Josh Leivo, but the goaltender made a smart stick save.

Nylander was looking somewhere near his imperious best as his speed and ability to turn on a dime created issues for the Moose defense.

Toronto drew a second powerplay, almost scoring an identical goal to the first but the effort was blocked. Seconds after the man advantage was over, Loov jumped over the boards and fired a long-range shot that deflected off some part of Rich Clune and found its way into the net.

After killing a late penalty, Toronto almost extended the lead to 3-1. Despite Casey Bailey getting in behind Comrie, he couldn’t find the net with his backhand shot.

A faceoff violation from the opening second-period puck drop sent Toronto on their third powerplay of the game. 20 seconds in, Connor Brown was the recipient of a perfect pass from Stuart Percy. From the left circle and on one knee, Brown smashed his shot past Comrie, who failed to get across in time.

The home team responded inside a minute thanks in part to some sloppy play from the Marlies. Leivo turned the puck over at the Manitoba blueline with a weak pass as he wheeled around the zone. The Moose were unable to take advantage of the odd-man rush, but they maintained possession, with J.C Lipon feeding Brassard. Justin Holl failed to block Brassard’s shot or get out of the way, leaving Sparks unsighted as the puck hit twine behind him.

Holl almost had a chance to redeem himself as a booming shot from T.J Brennan produced a huge rebound. With Comrie out of position, there was a lot of net to aim at. Manitoba showed nothing if not desire in this game, and it was a great play from one of their defensemen to poke the puck away from Holl and deny a certain goal.

After a terrific outlet pass from Percy sent Hyman away down the right side, it set in motion a fine period of play from Toronto, who could have scored through Hyman, Loov and Leivo, but Comrie stood tall.

A tripping penalty assessed to Frattin just past the midway point looked like a gift for the Moose and they took full advantage. A beautiful cross-crease feed from Lipon was banged home by John Albert to tie the game at 3-3.

The officials now had to call everything after the previous decision, and next it was Toronto’s turn to benefit from a dubious tripping call. They generated some good looks but were unable to beat Comrie on the man advantage.

A scrum as the period ended somehow result in Toronto receiving the only penalty and it proved an expensive decision once more. Brennan was handed the lone penalty and he was joined by Andrew Campbell 90 seconds later on another debatable tripping call.

Toronto killed the 30 seconds when down by two men, but the second penalty proved decisive as Chase DeLeo finally scored on a mad scramble after Sparks, who had made three stops in front, was unable to corral the puck.

The Marlies weren’t playing well enough or with enough conviction to have a serious case against the poor officiating. They have more than enough in their locker to dominate a struggling Manitoba team when they put their minds to it, and that’s just what happened six minutes into the third period.

A sustained spell of controlled possession hemmed the home team back in their own zone before the Marlies earned themselves a powerplay. Soshnikov was like a battering ram as he drove to the net; while he ran out of real estate, he did enough to keep the play in motion. Leivo ended up with the puck on his stick and set up Soshnikov for his 17th goal of the season.

A tense scrum after the goal meant both teams were down to four men for two minutes. Holl fired wide on his opportunity, while a blocked shot by Kichton frustrated TJ Brennan.

The Moose’s Julian Melchiori looked certain to score, but his double attempt was denied by Sparks.

The last penalty of the game sent Manitoba back on the man advantage, where they regained the lead just ten seconds in. A shot from the point set in motion what looked like pinball wizard in front of Sparks, with Lipon ending the scramble by potting his ninth of the season.

Toronto weren’t for beating in regulation as once again this season their offensive firepower bailed them out. Leivo drove to the net and dove to shift the puck across the crease. Sneaking around the cage from the other side was Nylander, who was on hand to even the proceedings at 5-5 with a little under four minutes to play.

The Marlies looked the likelier side to win it in regulation, especially in the last 45 seconds, but it was off to overtime for the second time in three games.

OT proved a microcosm of the game and of Toronto’s performance. The Marlies controlled possession but were kept at bay by the hard-working Moose.

The winning goal came with 50 seconds left on the clock. Lipon led the rush and found Josh Morrissey, who wasn’t covered efficiently by Leivo on the left. That enabled the Moose defenseman to send a tape-to-tape pass to Nic Petan, who had time and space with Connor Brown totally missing his assignment. Petan’s first time shot went in via the post, breaking Manitoba’s nine-game losing streak with thei first win of the season against Toronto.

It was no more than the home team deserved for one of their better outings against the Marlies this season. Toronto paid the price for yet another underwhelming performance.


Post Game Notes:

– The tying goal and two assists for William Nylander as he hit the 40-point mark in 30 games played.

Josh Leivo recorded his third straight multi-point game.

– A goal and an assist for Kasperi Kapanen, who is producing at point-per-game clip since returning from the World Juniors.

– No goals or points for T.J Brennan despite firing a season-high five shots on net.

Garret Sparks has given up six goals in consecutive starts.

– This is the first game Toronto has lost when leading after the first period (15-0-1-0).

– Toronto tied their season-high for power play goals scored (three), both for and against.

– An overtime loss extends Toronto’s point streak to eight games.


Game Highlights


Marlies Player Stats — Manitoba 6 vs. Toronto 5 (OT)

PLAYERSPositionGA+/-SHPIM
Campbell, AndrewD00004
Brennan, T.J.D00-252
Percy, StuartD02120
Hyman, ZachRW00-140
Leivo, JoshRW02062
Clune, RichardLW11120
Leipsic, BrendanLW01030
Rupert, RyanC00-100
Gauthier, FrederikC00010
Brown, ConnorRW10-212
Bailey, CaseyRW00010
Frattin, MattRW00034
Holl, JustinD00-210
Kapanen, KasperiRW11040
Loov, ViktorD01240
Valiev, RinatD00010
Nylander, WilliamC12130
Soshnikov, NikitaLW10022