The Toronto Marlies faced their greatest test of the season thus far with five games in eight days against tough opposition.
Toronto may have endured a three-game losing streak, but they managed to cling onto the top spot in the North Division by virtue of taking four of the 10 points on offer. The Marlies record vs. the North Division has improved to 16-3; while they continue to lead the division, Rochester has drawn level on points in one more games played.
Toronto achieved their 14th road win of the season last week and own a 22-8-0 record coming out of the short Christmas break.
The power play, which had been improving, drew a blank in all five games, failing to score on 19 opportunities. Utica solved Toronto’s penalty kill in the teams’ first meeting, but the Marlies stiffened up in the other four games, going a perfect 12 for 12.
For game-by-game breakdowns, highlights, notes, and quotes from the dressing room:
- Toronto Marlies extend winning streak to five games on late winner from Ben Smith
- Michael Hutchinson frustrates Marlies as Toronto’s winning streak ends at five
- Toronto Marlies drop second consecutive for first time this season vs. Manitoba
- Toronto Marlies fall to third consecutive defeat with road loss in Utica
- Ben Smith scores twice as Toronto Marlies snap losing skid versus Utica
Player News
– The good news story of the last fortnight has been Ben Smith, who noticed four goals and four helpers and extended his points streak to six games. His 27 points in 30 games rank 13th in the AHL in points scoring, and his 15 goals rank fifth.
– Justin Holl has picked it up offensively of late, posting a goal and three assists this week. His 14 points lead all Marlies defensemen.
– Kerby Rychel (all in the game versus Rochester), Miro Aaltonen and Dmytro Timashov all chipped in with three points apiece.
– Miro Aaltonen took a longer Christmas vacation than the rest of the team after being suspended for two games for a boarding incident. He’ll miss the Boxing Day classic after sitting out Friday’s win.
– Dmytro Timashov was easily Toronto’s best player bar Ben Smith during this last stretch of games. He’s grown significantly in confidence and isn’t afraid to make plays in tight areas. He now has 10 assists on the season after setting up two goals in the last outing. After going pointless through his first five games of the season, Timashov has recorded 19 points in his last 25 games.
– Just a lone goal for Chris Mueller this week, but it was his sixth goal of the year and his 20th point.
– Jean Dupuy and Martins Dzierkals made their long-awaited Marlies debuts against Rochester. The former fared better and showed his worth on the PK and in Friday’s win. An adjustment period can be expected for Dzierkals, who went pointless and put five shots on goal in three appearances.
– Andrew Nielsen was benched for the third period of the second game against Manitoba after a series of turnovers. He was a little better against Utica, but his puck management still requires a great deal of work.
– Sam Jardine made his Marlies debut on Wednesday after Andrew Nielsen was scratched due to an injury issue that surfaced in the pre-game skate. It was not an ideal situation for a debut, but the defenseman kept things relatively simple, wasn’t on the ice for a goal against and recorded a primary assist. He’s since been reassigned to Orlando and played for the Solar Bears on Saturday evening.
– Timothy Liljegren has been loaned to Sweden for the World Juniors while Martin Marincin was recalled by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Travis Dermott has been absent for four straight games due to injury.
– Andreas Johnsson missed action through sickness and wasn’t at his best coming back until Friday‘s game when he paired with Jeremy Bracco and Adam Brooks to good effect.
Speaking of the two rookies, both were excellent in Friday‘s victory and it hints at more to come from the pair offensively in the second half of the season. Brooks has struggled for offense (two points in 22 games) but Bracco took his points tally up to eight with a goal and an assist. Bracco has six points in his last seven games.
– Calvin Pickard saw his eight-game win streak broken by Manitoba. He wasn’t at his best in the defeat to Utica — albeit the loss wasn’t all on him — but he bounced back with an excellent performance on Friday. Pickard is 10-4 on the season with a .921 save percentage.
– Just one game this week for Garret Sparks, who turned aside 25 of 26 shots and deserved a better fate than the narrow 2-1 defeat to Manitoba. Illness prevented Sparks from playing in Utica (reportedly stomach flu).
– Drew Fielding (Adirondack Flames) was signed on a PTO and backed up Pickard on Friday. He’s since been released.
Orlando Solar Bears News
Orlando finished off their 10-game road trip (5-4-1) with a pair of games in Norfolk before returning home to face the same opponents in three consecutive home games. Having split the series with the Admirals in Norfolk, it was a different story back in the sunshine state, where the Solar Bears claimed just one point via a shootout loss on Saturday.
Orlando has an 11-14-5 at the 30-game mark and currently sits fifth in the South Division.
Max Novak moved up to second in Orlando scoring after accumulating seven points through the last five games. He also recorded his 10th goal of the year and currently leads the Solar Bears in that category.
Joshua Winquist continues to be Orlando’s leading scorer by helping himself to three goals and a pair of helpers. That’s 20 assists on the season for the 24-year-old forward, who is also second on the team in power play goals (four).
The good news for Orlando was the return of proven goalscorer Joe Perry, who found the twine twice and recorded an assist to boot.
Marlies Player Stats – December 26
| Pos | Name | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PPP | SHG | SOG | GWG | PTS/G |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RW | Smith, Ben | 30 | 15 | 12 | 27 | 21 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 5 | 0.9 |
| C | Mueller, Chris | 30 | 6 | 14 | 20 | -7 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 0.67 |
| LW | Johnsson, Andreas | 25 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 4 | 27 | 8 | 0 | 48 | 2 | 0.76 |
| LW | Timashov, Dmytro | 30 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 3 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 60 | 3 | 0.63 |
| LW | Rychel, Kerby | 30 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -3 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 64 | 2 | 0.53 |
| C | Aaltonen, Miro | 28 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 56 | 1 | 0.57 |
| D | Holl, Justin | 26 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 0 | 0.54 |
| LW | Marchment, Mason | 19 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 2 | 0.63 |
| C | Greening, Colin | 30 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 6 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 2 | 0.4 |
| D | Dermott, Travis | 24 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0.46 |
| D | Nielsen, Andrew | 26 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 56 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0.35 |
| RW | Bracco, Jeremy | 17 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0.47 |
| D | Rosen, Calle | 23 | 0 | 8 | 8 | -8 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 61 | 0 | 0.35 |
| LW | Moore, Trevor | 27 | 5 | 2 | 7 | -4 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 0.26 |
| D | LoVerde, Vincent | 24 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 0 | 0.21 |
| C | Gauthier, Frederik | 21 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0.19 |
| D | Valiev, Rinat | 17 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0.18 |
| C | Brooks, Adam | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0.09 |
| LW | Clune, Richard | 14 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0.07 |
| RW | Dzierkals, Martins | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| C | Dupuy, Jean | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| D | Paliotta, Michael | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| RW | Kapanen, Kasperi | 16 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 0.75 |
| RW | Soshnikov, Nikita | 14 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 41 | 0 | 0.86 |
| D | Liljegren, Timothy | 17 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0.53 |
| D | Marincin, Martin | 18 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 0.39 |
| D | Jardine, Sam | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Marlies Goalie Stats – December 26
| Name | GP | GAA | SAV% | W | L | OTL | SOL | SO | Sh | Shots/Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparks, Garret | 16 | 1.64 | .943 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 439 | 27.4 |
| Pickard, Calvin | 14 | 2.21 | .921 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 381 | 27.2 |
| Kaskisuo, Kasimir | 1 | 1 | .963 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 27 |
