An ill-tempered second consecutive game in Albany left Toronto with a depleted defense in the third period.
Neither team or the game itself were really helped by a three-man officiating crew that performed as if they way out of their depth. Their decisions certainly seemed to favour the home team as the Devils came back from a two-goal deficit to win in a shootout.
Albany was awarded their fourth straight powerplay three minutes into the third period, despite the protestations of Nikita Soshnikov. Six seconds later, the Russian forward was skating out of the box after John Quenneville scored to cut Toronto’s lead to 3-2.
Shortly after, Toronto suffered their first injury of the game. Experienced forward Brian Gibbons deliberately took a run at Travis Dermott behind the play and escaped with two minutes for roughing while the rookie defenseman headed to the dressing room (did not return).
After the Marlies powerplay wasn’t able to make Albany pay, the Devils were intent on inflicting more pain back at even strength. Two Albany players double-teamed Andrew Campbell on the boards in a dangerous play that left Toronto’s captain crumpled on the ice.
The incident left the Marlies down by three men at this stage while also somehow sending them to the penalty kill. Campbell headed down the tunnel, while Rinat Valiev — who had jumped in to protect his captain — was called for instigating, fighting and a game misconduct. Unbelievably, the only Albany penalty handed out was for fighting.
Toronto was now missing half of their defense and appeared completely rattled. It looked inevitable that Albany would tie the game on the powerplay, and they did through Ben Sexton.
The penalties kept coming — less than a minute later, Byron Froese was flagged for holding in yet another absurd call. Toronto survived the penalty kill, in part due to some excellent saves from Bibeau.
Campbell then returned to the bench, although he was clearly less than 100%.
The officials put their whistles away for a few minutes, and to the Marlies credit they responded by carrying the play at even strength, holding possession in Albany’s zone for prolonged stretches. The best chance was created by Campbell, but Trevor Moore, looking for his second goal of the game, couldn’t quite stuff the puck past Mackenzie Blackwood.
With 52 seconds of regulation time remaining, the officials weren’t done making ridiculous calls, this time nabbing Albany’s Kevin Rooney for hooking. The Marlies were unable to take advantage of their good fortune in regulation or overtime, and faced a penalty kill of their own during the extra period. In the end, neither team could score with the extra man.
Toronto’s three shooters in the shootout — Smith, Soshnikov and Kapanen — all failed to score and Quenneville’s lone tally for Albany stood up as the game winner.
Toronto never looked like building a two-goal lead during the first period, having allowed the first six shots against while barely touching the puck inside the Albany zone during the opening stages.
An early Marlies powerplay almost resulted in a shorthanded marker for the home team, but Blake Coleman was unable to apply the finishing touch on an odd-man rush.
The first fight of the evening featured Rich Clune and Ben Thomson, who dropped the mitts after chatting up a storm before a faceoff.
It took the visitors over seven minutes to register their first effort on net. Two minutes later, Toronto finally found some space and speed through the neutral zone. Byron Froese’s shot produced a juicy rebound, but nobody wearing blue was on hand to take advantage.
A weird bouncing shot from Dymtro Timashov handcuffed Blackwood and almost beat the young goaltender, who was relieved to find the puck underneath him.
Kapanen and Soshnikov then combined, with the former drawing a penalty on a play where the latter almost scored on a backhand attempt. Toronto was only able to set up once in the Albany zone and they were indebted to their goaltender back at even strength.
The Marlies best shift of the opening frame resulted in Toronto opening the scoring after 17 minutes. Sustained offensive zone pressure resulted in a tired Albany team unable to clear. Leipsic almost made them pay before another blast from Andrew Nielsen did the trick, with an uncredited assist going to a great screen in front from Tobias Lindberg.
The lead proved short-lived. Reece Scarlett found himself some space down the right and he wasn’t properly closed down on by a tired Valiev. A powerful slapshot from the defenseman beat Bibeau glove side, who was possibly unsighted by his own player.
Toronto created two further opportunities to end the period, both orchestrated by Leipsic, but the teams were locked at ones to begin the middle frame.
As they did on Friday, Albany came out firing in the second period, earning a powerplay 13 seconds in. Bibeau denied Scarlett a second goal from the slot as the Marlies held on for dear life while hemmed inside their own zone.
Once they were able to clear their own end, Toronto struck a second time. Nielsen’s outlet feed found Leipsic on the left and the talented winger delivered a perfect saucer pass that split three Devils players and found Froese, who wasted no time firing a low shot through Blackwood’s five-hole.
A second fight of the game pitted Joe Blandisi against Campbell after Albany were upset about a hit laid by the Marlies captain. It seemed insignificant compared to the events that followed later in the game, but the Devils main objectives appeared to include fighting at every opportunity.
Froese later came close on another opening for him but perhaps should have chosen another target other than the five-hole again, as Blackwood was ready to turn the shot aside.
After surviving one close call and then killing a penalty, Toronto took take a 3-1 lead 12 minutes into the second. One of Rich Clune’s best offensive shifts resulted in a blast by Viktor Loov and a rebound tap-in from Trevor Moore.
The Marlies remained ahead by two after the period finished despite more chances, Albany hitting the crossbar, and a few more absurd penalty calls. But it was a lead Toronto was ultimately unable to hold onto.
Post-Game Notes
– Antoine Bibeau made 31 saves and, despite the loss, was the main reason the Marlies earned at least a point.
– That’s now four fights in seven games (54 penalty minutes) for Rinat Valiev. In his second season as a professional, the defenseman is taking it upon himself to drop the gloves when asked. He’s just not a very good fighter.
– Andrew Nielsen’s goal and assist takes his tally to seven points in eight games.
– Byron Froese notched his fifth goal the season.
– Trevor Moore scored for the second consecutive game and is looking more at ease playing on his off-wing.
– Special teams ultimately proved the difference yet again. Toronto was scoreless on four opportunities, while Albany were 2/7.
– Travis Dermott’s injury appeared to be to his right leg. Sheldon Keefe intimated the rookie is going to miss some time.
Game Highlights
Devils 4 vs. Marlies 3 (SO) – Game Sheet
| SKATER | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 | -1 |
| Holl, Justin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Loov, Viktor | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Nielsen, Andrew | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Dermott, Travis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Smith, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Froese, Byron | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| Johnsson, Andreas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Clune, Richard | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Leipsic, Brendan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Soshnikov, Nikita | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Kapanen, Kasperi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Greening, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Timashov, Dmytro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Moore, Trevor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
