The Toronto Marlies hit a new low on Wednesday night when they were comprehensibly beaten by the bottom-ranked team in the American Hockey League.
The Binghamton Senators have been in better of form of late — especially at home, where they have a record of 3-1-1-0 — but Ottawa’s affiliate had won just ten of 30 games heading into this midweek tilt.
First Period
The opening period was evenly played and certainly Toronto’s best 20 minutes of the game.
Binghamton’s physical play created the first chance but the returning Garret Sparks gloved an effort from Max McCormick. Toronto responded through Brett Findlay’s wrist shot following a messy offensive zone faceoff, but Chris Driedger clutched the effort comfortably into his chest.
Milan Michalek, another Marlies player returning after a long absence, was unable to finish on two consecutive opportunities afforded to him, while Viktor Loov and Colin Smith would have been disappointed not to score after an excellent piece of play orchestrated by Tobias Lindberg and Andreas Johnsson.
After a flurry of early openings offensively, Toronto nearly found themselves behind at the five-minute mark. A wrist shot from Andreas Englund was blocked in front and proceeded to bounce around the crease, eventually winding up in the skates of Alex Krushelnyski. From a tight angle, Sparks was able to deny Binghamton’s left winger.
A procession to the penalty box kicked off at the eight minute mark, with the teams guilty of two infractions apiece. Rinat Valiev was the first to head off after hauling down Buddy Robinson after the Sens forward sped around him and was in alone on goal. After former Marlies defenseman Mike Kostka hit the post on a wicked shot from low in the right circle, Toronto killed the first penalty.
The following two powerplays proved uneventful before Toronto’s second man advantage saw them open the scoring. On what appeared to be a set play, Brendan Leipsic from the right found Kerby Rychel parked out in front. With no hesitation, the winger sent a blind reverse pass to the left circle, where Kasperi Kapanen found himself alone to finish his eighth powerplay goal of the season
The Marlies lead lasted less than 90 seconds. The nature of the tying goal set the tone for the remainder of the game: Toronto was outworked as Binghamton won two battles along the boards despite the Marlies having the numbers advantage.
The puck was sent to the right wing, where Ben Harpur had time to assess the situation before ripping a shot that seemed to handcuff Sparks, bringing the home team level before the intermission.
Second Period
The B-Sens came out flying in the second period and were rewarded for their efforts.
After Jack Rodewald and Phil Varone forced Sparks into a fine save, a shot from Kostka generated a huge rebound off the pads of Sparks but the netminder flung himself at the feet of Chad Nehring alone in front to deny a certain goal.
Varone netted the go-ahead goal at the three-minute mark after a series of mix-ups from the Marlies. The Binghamton forward beat Sparks with ease as he fired top shelf over the goaltender’s left shoulder.
Toronto was gifted the perfect opportunity to draw themselves level shortly after with 1:40 of 5-on-3 power play time. The Marlies generated four shots on goal but Driedger was playing with a lot of confidence between the pipes.
Rychel and Holl had chances to tie the game at even strength, but the Senators were in control after the kills and were unfortunate to not draw themselves further ahead through 40 minutes of play. Jack Rodewald was certainly looking to make a point against his former team and easily could have netted himself a brace during the middle frame.
Third Period
The aforementioned Rodewald wasn’t done; he began the third period by embarrassing Travis Dermott with a toe-drag move, but Sparks was equal to the five-hole attempt.
Put straight back to work by his coach, Rodewald threatened again, forcing Sparks into another save, but he was overzealous on the resulting play and ended up in the penalty box. The Marlies powerplay was cut short by Sparks playing the puck in the restricted zone (only Sparks will know why he was playing the puck so far out of his net).
Although they owned enough possession and made a few forays into the offensive zone, Toronto failed to generate any scoring chances of note.
One last powerplay with five minutes remaining provided the final ray of hope for the Marlies, but all they could manage was a pair of long-range efforts from Andrew Nielsen and Rinat Valiev. On both occasions, the BSens were first to the rebounds, which summed up the difference between the two teams on the night.
With Sparks pulled inside the last two minutes, it didn’t take long for a tenacious Senators team to seal the victory. McCormick broke up a pass intended for Justin Holl inside the Binghamton zone and chased down the loose puck before slotting home into the empty cage.
The Marlies managed just six shots through the final 20 minutes — a sad indictment of their current form, especially on the road.
Post Game Notes
– This was the first of a six games series between Toronto and Binghamton, but the teams don’t meet again until the end of February.
– Toronto has now picked up just one win in their last nine road games.
– For the first time this season, the Marlies have fallen below .500 with a record of 13-14-1-1.
– Garret Sparks made his first start since December 4 and faced 31 shots. He made a handful of good saves, but also gave up some big rebound opportunities.
– In his first game back from injury, Brendan Leipsic picked up his 20th assist of the season on Kasperi Kapanen’s goal. Also returning from injury, Kapanen notched his 14th of the year and eighth on the powerplay.
