After years of dominating their nearest cross-border rivals, the Toronto Marlies have struggled against the Rochester Americans this season.
They’ve taken just three points from six games against the Amerks and haven’t picked up a point in three visits to the Blue Cross Arena.
After grinding out a victory on Sunday, Toronto needed a similar effort on an ice surface that wasn’t conducive to skilled hockey.
First Period
The Marlies set about their task with gusto from the opening faceoff. Byron Froese and Seth Griffith were welcoming a new linemate in Trevor Moore, and the trio put in a good opening shift with two shots inside the opening 37 seconds.
That same line was responsible when the Marlies opened the scoring with 3:37 on the clock. The Amerks couldn’t clear their zone on four separate occasions as the Marlies fought to keep the play alive. That hard work eventually led to a shot from Travis Dermott that was tipped home by Griffith for his first as a Marlie.
The goal scorer wound up in the penalty box a little under three minutes later, but it didn’t matter after some characteristic hard work from Rich Clune drew a tripping penalty off of Nick Baptiste.
The Amerks registered their first shot on net over ten minutes in and drew their first powerplay of the game in the process, but Toronto’s penalty killing unit was excellent, with Garret Sparks barely called on throughout the two minutes.
The home team’s best pair of chances in the period came on the same shift late in the first, but Sparks was equal to the efforts of Justin Bailey and Erik Burgdoerfer.
Toronto nearly made it 2-0 on their next offensive zone foray. Dmytro Timashov’s determination on the left boards freed himself up to send the puck back to the point, where debutant Nikolas Brouillard ripped a one-timer off the crossbar.
Justin Holl — who put his size, strength and skating ability to good use in this game — led an offensive drive that nearly led to a second Toronto goal inside the final 40 seconds. He faked a shot after beating his man and dished off to Froese by the side of the net; Froese nearly shoveled the puck in, but Ullmark came up with a save in tight.
Second Period
While Toronto continued to own the majority of possession and offensive zone time, Rochester tied the game up on the first shot of the period. Brady Austin picked off an intended cross-ice pass in the neutral zone before picking out Hudson Fasching, who had split the Marlies defense. The right winger sat Sparks down with a fantastic deke before slotting into the empty cage.
Both teams created some half chances after that, but generating real goal-scoring opportunities was proving a difficult task on the slow ice.
Rochester went to their third powerplay of the game just over the midway mark, but the much-improved Marlies penalty kill stood firm again to keep the score level.
The Marlies mustered 13 shots on net in the period, although Ullmark wasn’t really challenged. More impressively, Sparks had only faced 12 shots through 40 minutes of play.
Third Period
Toronto’s record when tied after 40 minutes isn’t the source of confidence at 2-5-1-0 — something that obviously has to change down the stretch if the Marlies are going to string together a postseason push.
A minute into the period, Jean Dupuy led a 2-on-1 break down the left but Andrew Campbell held up the Amerks forward before making a fantastic diving play to snuff out the danger.
With the ice only getting worse and the two clubs digging in for a tight third period, the game turned scrappy. Both teams lacked rhythm to their game in the first ten minutes.
The Marlies seemed to adapt to the conditions and proceeded to dominate the final nine minutes of regulation. Andreas Johnsson tested Ullmark through traffic before Marc-Andre Cliche came close on a set up by Tony Cameranesi and Clune.
Toronto must have questioned whether it was their night in the final five minutes after Colin Smith, Brett Findlay, Brouillard and Froese were all turned aside by Ullmak, with Rochester again thankful to their goaltender for bringing about a stoppage in play.
From the resulting faceoff, the Marlies worked the puck around to Froese waiting just above the right circle. He could not have caught the puck any sweeter but Ullmark came up with a wonderful glove save despite being slightly out of position.
After Findlay saw his backhand five-hole attempt turned aside, there was no late drama in regulation and both teams secured a point.
Overtime & Shootout
Toronto was handed a golden opportunity when Kyle Bonis was called for hooking 53 seconds into extra time. It was a questionable call, especially after the officials had put their whistles away in the second half of regulation.
The Amerks ended up coming closest to winning it on the Marlies powerplay. Tim Kennedy broke in alone but was unable to beat Sparks, who came up with a point-saving stop.
Back at 4 on 4, Smith came the closest after dancing through the middle of the Amerks defense, but Ullmark’s save sent the game to a shootout.
At the end of a dramatic seven-round affair, Colin Smith stepped up with a chance to win the game. He was calmness personified as he shifted the puck to his backhand, flipping an effort toward the net that looked to have beat Ullmark but not the post. In what looked like a slow-motion replay, the rebound hit Ullmark on the back and fell into the net behind Rochester’s goaltender.
It was the type of break Toronto has been dying for this season — and one they very much deserved after outshooting their opponent by a 2:1 ratio.
Post Game Notes
– Toronto outshot Rochester 40-20
– For only the second time this season, Toronto has won two consecutive road games.
– With the recent results in their favour, the Marlies have moved up to fifth in the North Division, just four points shy of Utica.
– Nikolas Brouillard was finally given his Marlies debut after spending his season with the Solar Bears to this point. He looked comfortable in possession, reliable in his own zone, and nearly marked his first appearance with a goal but rang the iron. Sheldon Keefe gave the rookie plenty of powerplay time and used him during overtime as well.
– Seth Griffith has registered a point in all three starts for Toronto. His first-period tally was his first goal of the season in any league.
– Travis Dermott recorded his tenth assist of the season.
– Trevor Moore was given the opportunity in this game to play with more offensively-talented linemates (Griffith and Froese) and did not disappoint.
– Marc-André Cliche played in his 400th AHL game.
– Toronto continues the road trip in St. John’s this weekend having taken six points from their last four games.
