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It may have been the Marlies’ poorest effort of the seasons through four games, but Toronto found a way past the Moose on Saturday evening.

There were extenuating circumstances — in addition to some highly questionable officiating, the team had traveled back from Rochester the night before and were playing a rested Moose team. Toronto was their own worst enemy at times, however, and almost shot themselves in the foot with some poor discipline.

First Period

It was a slow beginning, with nothing of note occurring in the opening three minutes, so it was a surprise when Toronto took the lead 35 seconds later. Dymtro Timashov recovered the puck from behind his own net and dished off to Rinat Valiev. The sophomore defenseman sped through the neutral zone and dropped the puck to Brooks Laich on his right across the blue line. With the Moose on their heels, the veteran forward opened up his body and fired a wrist shot into the top right-hand corner of Eric Comrie’s net.

Colin Smith was charged with the first penalty of the game, but it was the Marlies who almost doubled their lead on the Moose powerplay. Kasperi Kapanen led a charge down the right side and had Comrie beat with a great wrist shot, but the Finnish winger saw his effort ring off the iron. Byron Froese followed up on the next shift, forcing Manitoba’s goaltender into a sharp right pad save.

Brendan Leipsic, always effective at drawing penalties, created the Marlies first powerplay of the game on a tripping call halfway through the first. One lone backhand attempt from Froese just drifted over the crossbar, while a misplay from Antoine Bibeau almost allowed the Moose to tally shorthanded. It was Bibeau’s only blemish in a good outing from the netminder, who redeemed his error by getting back to his net and making the save to deny Marko Dano.

Toronto doubled their lead back at even strength courtesy of a turnover by the visitors. Leipsic, the beneficiary of the error, worked a delightful give-and-go with Tobias Lindberg before slotting home from one knee. Lindberg deserves credit for returning the puck to his teammate when he had a good look at goal himself.

As the first period finished up with a rash of penalties, the Marlies faced a 4-on-3 penalty kill with 55 seconds remaining. Manitoba took advantage through Nic Petan, who found a seam through Toronto’s defense and beat Bibeau top shelf from in tight.

Second Period

The Marlies came out strong early in the middle frame and came close to re-establishing their two-goal advantage. The duo of Leipsic and Lindberg combined once more, but the latter hit the post.

Despite the positive start, Toronto was back on the penalty kill at the four-minute mark. The Moose once again were able to take advantage, with Kevin Czuczman allowed too much time and space to measure his shot past Bibeau and tie the game at twos.

The penalties kept coming, with Valiev punished for a cross check six minutes into the period. He was jumped on by Manitoba captain Patrice Cormier, who proceeded to fire a flurry of punches before the defenseman could respond. Five for fighting was assessed to both players, with Cormier somehow evading an instigator penalty.

Everyone connected with the Marlies felt even more aggrieved when Kapanen was clearly high-sticked on the resulting penalty kill, but every official on the ice missed the infraction.

Toronto was able to survive that two minutes of play with ease, but frustrations with the officials only grew further at the midway mark. Nelson Nogier took at least two cheap shots at Frederik Gauthier after a whistle while an official stood just a few feet away. The ref did nothing until Gauthier eventually responded to his aggressor, at which point both were sent to the box.

With the extra space available, Manitoba almost grabbed themselves a go-ahead marker. Chase De Leo was stonewalled by Bibeau and Marko Dano was unable to get ahold of the resulting rebound.

With Toronto requiring some kind of spark to get them back on track, Julian Melchiori’s blatant delay-of-game penalty was just what the doctor ordered. Andrew Nielsen, continuing to prove himself a potent weapon on the man advantage, saw his booming shot tipped in by Byron Froese, who was posting up in the crease.

Brooks Laich was the next Toronto player to head to the box on a negligible interference call that had many fans in attendance shaking their heads in disbelief. The Marlies were indebted to Bibeau, who held on to a rocket from Jack Roslovic through traffic in front.

Third Period

The Marlies were beneficiaries of a call to end the middle frame but were unable to take advantage as the powerplay carried over into the third period. At 1:40 into the final 20 minutes of play, Bibeau produced another fine save to keep the fragile lead intact. Jan Kostalek and Roslovic combined to create an opening for Roslovic, who watched in frustration as Bibeau moved swiftly across his net to deny the opportunity.

The 15th penalty of the game was called just before the midway mark — this time a clear-cut infraction by Gauthier, who had to watch in the box as his teammates did a fine job of shutting down the Moose powerplay.

Seconds after returning to even strength, Manitoba came within inches of tying the game at threes. Anthony Peluso set up JC Lipon waiting at the backdoor, but Bibeau was alert enough to move sharply to his right and get enough of his blocking arm on the puck to direct it wide. The reaction of the crowd after the save signified its importance in a tight game.

Many officials put their whistles away during the third period of a close game, but that was far from the case in this game. Dano, who wasn’t endearing himself to the home crowd with some embellishment throughout the encounter, fell to the ice dramatically after a debatable high stick from Timashov.

That call was made good a minute later when De Leo was called for the same infraction, but Toronto could not force an insurance marker during the single minute of powerplay time that followed.

The outcome of this matchup was very much in the balance right until the end, especially after Viktor Loov was called for cross-checking with 100 seconds left on the clock. It was Dano again selling the call to the officials, who were again willing to comply.

Manitoba decided to pull Comrie for a two-man advantage, which ultimately backfired. After Laich broke up the play in his own zone and chipped the puck clear for Froese to chase, Froese won the race and battle for possession before firing the puck into the empty net to secure a 4-2 victory.

It wasn’t pretty or enjoyable to watch, but Toronto held on and ground out a victory owing more to persistence and will than to skill.


Post Game Notes

– Sheldon Keefe on the win: “I guess they key component would be that we scored more  than we did. Not a whole lot of other things to take out of the game. It’s a really strange couple of days here for us. I thought we played as good a game [yesterday] as I’ve seen our team play at even strength, even dating back to last year… In my time with the Marlies, I thought yesterday’s game was as good as I’ve seen us play in terms of executing. We lose that game yesterday. Today, I didn’t think we did much right and somehow we win the game.”

– Brooks Laich’s goal was his first for the Marlies. His last AHL tally was back on June 15, 2006.

– Brendan Leipisic netted his second goal of the season. He currently sits fourth in AHL scoring. Keefe on the Leipsic, Froese and Lindberg line: “They’ve played really well. Leipsic has played really well, and that line has played well for us. I thought today, for most of the game — especially for Leiper — there were some turnovers and some things not quite happening for him the way that they have. It’s a sign of how our whole team was today. That line got some good results today but there were some shifts and some plays they would like to have back.”

– Byron Froese has three goals so far this weekend and four points in as many games.

– Antoine Bibeau made 28 saves and made a good case for himself to start Sunday afternoon’s rematch with Manitoba.

– Toronto was one for four on the powerplay and allowed two goals on eight penalty kills.


Game Highlights


Marlies 4 vs. Moose 2 – Game Sheet

SKATERGAPIMShots+/-
Campbell, Andrew00021
Valiev, Rinat01712
Holl, Justin00213
Loov, Viktor00210
Nielsen, Andrew01210
Dermott, Travis00010
Smith, Colin00420
Froese, Byron20032
Johnsson, Andreas00020
Leipsic, Brendan10021
Laich, Brooks11212
Kapanen, Kasperi00020
Gauthier, Frederik00410
Rychel, Kerby00020
Lindberg, Tobias01001
Greening, Colin00001
Timashov, Dmytro01231
Moore, Trevor00000