Many who attended this Saturday matinee game will have left the Air Canada Centre thinking the Toronto Marlies were unlucky to lose.
They were certainly less than fortunate in the third period as they struck the iron a number of times, were denied a certain goal, missed a penalty shot, and couldn’t buy a bounce in front of goal. However, that doesn’t excuse what was mostly another inconsistent and disjointed Marlies performance.
First Period
An early man advantage for the Marlies was quickly negated by an interference penalty assessed to Andreas Johnsson. On the shortened powerplay for the Devils, an excellent backcheck from Marc-Andre Cliché denied Joe Blandisi a chance to open the scoring.
The Devils deservedly opened the scoring just before the six-minute mark. Albany outworked the home team, winning several battles on the forecheck before Blake Coleman set up Brian Gibbons all alone in front.
Two minutes later, on a full two-minute powerplay, Albany almost went up 2-0. Ben Sexton was afforded space in front but Antoine Bibeau denied him with a sharp save.
Toronto’s first and second shots of the game arrived after the ten-minute mark — an effort from Byron Froese and a one-time blast from Andrew Campbell that fully tested young Devils goaltender Ken Appleby.
The Marlies generated their best spell of pressure with a little under six minutes left in the first period. Froese centered the puck from the right wing, but neither Tobias Lindberg or Dymtro Timashov could jam home a loose rebound. Any momentum gained was negated by an undisciplined penalty by Dmytro Timashov.
The visitors took advantage to extend their lead. Brian Gibbons was again allowed room to go about his business and finished well on a feed from Blandisi.
Kerby Rychel and Blake Pietila dropped the gloves back at even strength; both headed to the box for fighting, but the Marlie forward was rightly awarded an instigator penalty. On the resulting powerplay, it should have been 3-0 for the Devils, but Blandisi contrived to hit the side of the goal with half an empty net to aim at.
Second Period
Having dodged a bullet, Toronto began the second period brightly, creating a couple of offensive opportunities. After picking up a rebound from a Colin Smith shot, Frederik Gauthier’s backhand attempt was met by a fantastic diving save by Appleby.
A series of errors from the Marlies saw them concede a third goal inside 25 minutes of play. A poor dump-in led to a botched line change before Brian Gibbons found Blandisi alone with only Bibeau to beat. Toronto’s goaltender made an excellent first save, but Blake Coleman had time and space to bury the rebound chance.
The Marlies received two consecutive powerplay opportunities in the span of five minutes but created little with either despite plenty of possession in the offensive zone.
Toronto dodged another bullet after getting outwitted by one stretch pass. Defenseman Yohann Auvitu held onto the puck for what seemed like an eternity beside the Albany net before launching a perfect saucer pass to send John Quenneville on a breakaway. Bibeau was equal to the attempt.
Bibeau’s teammates rewarded him by finally getting on the board. Simplification did wonders; Colin Smith led the rush down the middle of the ice before dishing off to Froese, whose shot produced a rebound that fell nicely for Johnsson on the opposite wing.
The goal breathed life into the home fans and players, who were almost celebrating again two minutes later. A rasping shot from Rinat Valiev beat Appleby all ends up but it stayed out of the net after hitting the inside of the post.
Third Period
The momentum to end the middle frame was almost wiped clean a minute into the third period. Gibbons was again in the thick of the action with two gilt-edged opportunities, but Toronto survived and the game was still within reach.
The Marlies were again failing to generate much offensively and wound up back on the penalty kill thanks to another undisciplined double-minor high-sticking penalty from Timashov.
The kill seemed to galvanise the home team, but they couldn’t find any luck around the net. Rychel kept his eye on a shot from Travis Dermott that resulted in a high floating rebound. First to the puck by the side of the net, Rychel’s shot hit the post. A booming effort from Andrew Nielsen also hit the same post.
Toronto drew a penalty with a little over seven minutes remaining. After some excellent puck movement, a scramble ensued in front of the net and the puck appeared to cross the goal line at least twice. The officials waived off the goal and awarded a penalty shot, refusing to look at the video review — it turns out, for some reason, that feature was not available today. Sheldon Keefe certainly wasn’t pleased in the post-game presser, and you could hardly blame him.
That was a big stroke of luck for Albany, who were indebted to Appleby as he turned aside Smith’s penalty shot effort.
Bibeau remained alert despite not seeing much action, denying a Devils shorthanded breakaway to keep the Marlies’ faint hopes alive.
It was go-for-broke time after Keefe pulled his netminder with a little over four minutes remaining.
The game was spent exclusively inside the Devils zone as Toronto piled on the pressure, firing on net at every opportunity. The best chance fell to Froese with 70 seconds to play; a pass from Johnsson somehow made it through a series of bodies and sticks and found Froese waiting to the side of the net. With open net to fire at, Froese hit another post.
That was as close as it got fo the Marlies, who fell to their seventh defeat in the last nine games.
Post Game Notes
– Toronto went zero for four on the powerplay and allowed one goal on five times shorthanded.
– Kasperi Kapanen and Brendan Leipsic were both scratches. Leipsic has now missed four games due to injury, while Kapanen’s status is unknown. Neither are expected to feature Sunday, according to Sheldon Keefe.
– Andreas Johnsson scored his seventh goal of the season, with three coming in his last five games.
– In his first appearance since November 29, Bibeau made 22 saves on 25 shots but certainly wasn’t at fault for the loss. He could play Sunday and then be recalled for the Leafs‘ upcoming road trip.
– Toronto’s season series with Albany this season stands at 1-2-0-1. The Marlies record has fallen to .500 for the first time this season at 12-12-1-1.
– The first period woes continue as Toronto has now trailed in seven of their last nine games after 20 minutes of play.
Game Highlights
Post Game: Sheldon Keefe
Game Sheet – Devils 3 vs. Marlies 1
| SKATER | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Holl, Justin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Loov, Viktor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 |
| Nielsen, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Dermott, Travis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Smith, Colin | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Froese, Byron | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Johnsson, Andreas | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Clune, Richard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Marchment, Mason | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Cliche, Marc-Andre | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -1 |
| Laich, Brooks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rychel, Kerby | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | -1 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Greening, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| Timashov, Dmytro | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 |
