The divisional matchups are coming thick and fast right now for the Toronto Marlies, with each game taking on more relevance as the league enters the final third of the schedule.
After playing Albany and Utica twice, Toronto left with a 2-1-1-0 record this past week. A points haul of five could have easily have been more if not for blown leads. Wednesday’s loss to Utica broke a five-game points streak for the Marlies — a run of form that has seen Toronto climb into third place in the North Division and significantly improve their post-season odds.
Special teams played a pivotal role in every game, with the numbers looking fantastic until both units went haywire in the last game in Utica. Both the powerplay and the penalty kill went to work on 20 occasions and Toronto finished a plus-one (five goals for, four against) overall. There were also four shorthanded goals this past week, with the Marlies scoring three of them.
The majority of Toronto’s success has been achieved when outshooting opponents (18-11-1-0) — a feat they failed to manage in any of the last four games. A respectable 120 shots were recorded by the Marlies during regulation but they also allowed 145 against — an average of over 36 per game.
Toronto faced the Albany Devils for the last time in the regular season, with New Jersey moving their affiliation to Binghamton for 2017-18. The Devils edged the season series 10-8 in points. As things currently stand, these two teams could yet meet again in the first round of the playoffs.
Game Reviews
- Game #50 Review: Utica Comets 5 vs. Toronto Marlies 2
- Game #49 Review: Toronto Marlies 6 vs. Albany Devils 2
- Game #48 Review: Albany Devils 5 vs. Toronto Marlies 4 (OT)
- Game #47 Review: Toronto Marlies 6 vs. Utica Comets 4
Player News
– Byron Froese led the way this week with six points (3G/3A), placing him atop the AHL’s goal-scoring charts. His 23 tallies are tied for league best with Chicago’s Wade Megan.
– Frank Corrado has proven an excellent addition to the Marlies blue line, providing an offensive boost from the backend with five assists and his first goal for Toronto this past week. He’s up to nine points in 12 games overall.
– Andreas Johnsson is enjoying his best run of scoring form this season, helping himself to four goals and an assist in his last five. He is now sixth in scoring on the team with 29 points through 50 games.
– Colin Smith might be struggling to find the net of late but he assisted on four goals this week and in the process registered his 100th career AHL assist.
– Justin Holl scored his first goal of the season back on October 23. It’s taken him until this past weekend to find the net again but he broke through on three occasions, including a highlight-reel shorthanded tally. He has the skill set to be a far more consistent producer offensively. Hopefully a four-point week is a much-needed confidence boost for him going forward.
– Andrew Campbell is another defenseman who has found offense harder to come by this season, but he notched three helpers this week and easily could have potted a couple of goals with a little luck. He joined Colin Smith in also registering his 100th career AHL assist.
– It wasn’t going to last forever, but Seth Griffith saw his points streak halted in his 11th game as a Marlie. He’s pointless in his last two outings.
– Rookie Trevor Moore’s three-point haul took his season total to 20 points in his first 33 AHL games.
– Goals in consecutive games for Travis Dermott included a first ever powerplay marker for the rookie defenseman.
– Dmytro Timashov has started to find the scoresheet with regularity in the last couple of weeks — three points in his last four games and eight in his last nine, including four goals.
– A few milestones for Andrew Nielsen, who scored his tenth goal and registered his 30th point of the season at the same time. That broke a six-game pointless streak for the rookie defenseman.
– Brooks Laich made his return from injury, playing for the first time since December 17.
– With injuries on the blue line, Toronto added Alex Gudbranson on load from Minnesota. In the final year of his entry-level contract, Gudbranson has been playing in the ECHL for Quad City Mallards. The defenseman made an inauspicious debut for the Marlies in the loss to Utica.
– Willie Corrin has been reassigned to the Brampton Beast (ECHL).
Toronto Marlies Player Stats – February 17
| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SHG | SOG | SH% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brendan Leipsic | LW | 34 | 11 | 27 | 38 | -3 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 98 | 11.2 |
| Byron Froese | C | 47 | 23 | 14 | 37 | 7 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 133 | 17.3 |
| Kasperi Kapanen | RW | 33 | 16 | 17 | 33 | -3 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 97 | 16.5 |
| Kerby Rychel | LW | 48 | 11 | 21 | 32 | -16 | 85 | 9 | 0 | 129 | 8.5 |
| Andrew Nielsen | D | 48 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -3 | 45 | 4 | 0 | 97 | 10.3 |
| Andreas Johnsson | LW | 50 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 34 | 8 | 0 | 99 | 14.1 |
| Colin Smith | C | 48 | 6 | 19 | 25 | -3 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 6.2 |
| Trevor Moore | LW | 33 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 17.9 |
| Travis Dermott | D | 37 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 61 | 4.9 |
| Dmytro Timashov | LW | 43 | 8 | 7 | 15 | -4 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 87 | 9.2 |
| Colin Greening | C | 46 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 0 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 69 | 10.1 |
| Seth Griffith | RW | 12 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 11.1 |
| Tobias Lindberg | LW | 35 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 5 | 32 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 8.9 |
| Andrew Campbell | D | 50 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 1.4 |
| Justin Holl | D | 48 | 4 | 6 | 10 | -5 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 81 | 4.9 |
| Richard Clune | LW | 30 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -2 | 68 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 15 |
| Rinat Valiev | D | 34 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 70 | 1 | 1 | 57 | 3.5 |
| Frank Corrado | D | 12 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 3.3 |
| Brett Findlay | C | 14 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 23.5 |
| Tony Cameranesi | F | 19 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 8.6 |
| Viktor Loov | D | 41 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 4.9 |
| Brooks Laich | C | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 6.7 |
| Milan Michalek | LW | 16 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 8 |
| Frederik Gauthier | C | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 3.2 |
| William Wrenn | D | 24 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 4.3 |
| Nikita SoshnikovÊ(X) | RW | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 9.1 |
| Eric Faille | RW | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7.7 |
| Marc-Andre Cliche | C | 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5.6 |
| Daniel MaggioÊ(X) | RW | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 20 |
| Nikolas Brouillard | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Alex Gudbranson | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ty Stanton | D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Willie CorrinÊ(X) | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Josh LeivoÊ(X) | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| Mason MarchmentÊ(X) | LW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Toronto Marlies Goalie Stats – February 17
| Goalies | GP | W | L | SOL | SO | GA | GAA | SVS | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Glass | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2.05 | 44 | 0.917 |
| Garret Sparks | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 46 | 2.32 | 527 | 0.92 |
| Antoine Bibeau | 22 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 63 | 2.88 | 564 | 0.9 |
| Jhonas Enroth | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3.03 | 85 | 0.904 |
| Karri Ramo | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3.8 | 81 | 0.88 |
