The Toronto Marlies reached a historic landmark this week, as their most recent win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton marked the 1,000th game in franchise history.
The Marlies have won five of their last six games and continue to sit atop the league standings, albeit with Lehigh Valley Phantoms hot on their heels. Philadelphia’s affiliate is level on points (92), but the Marlies have two games in hand.
Sandwiched between wins against Atlantic Division opponents Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have been victories against North Division foes Belleville and Laval twice. Utica handed them their only loss, which was as much about the Comets playing a solid road game as it was the Marlies putting in a performance below their usual standard.
It has been the definition of a team effort of late as Toronto has tried out a bunch of new players and line combinations in recent games. 13 different players found the net, including the debuting Josh Kestner. The fact that the Marlies continue to crank out wins with Kasperi Kapanen, Travis Dermott and Andreas Johsson up with the big club — and Miro Aaltonen out for a spell with injury — is a testament to the season Sheldon Keefe and his staff are having behind the bench as well as the job management has done accruing quality depth.
The much-maligned Marlies power play has found a way to produce in the last six games, averaging one goal a game through 29 opportunities. The penalty kill gave up two goals but is still the league’s best at 89.5%, and the Marlies also lead the Eastern Conference in fewest times shorthanded (238 TSH in 64 games). The Marlies penalty kill was a perfect 4-4 against WBS, marking the 42nd time this season it has not allowed a goal.
The Marlies are also now 26-5-1 on their travels this season. The single season franchise record for road wins is 27 (accomplished two seasons ago), the AHL record is 28, and Toronto has six road games remaining on the schedule.
In other related Marlies news, the ECHL have confirmed the approval of an expansion hockey team for St. John’s. Play will resume at Mile One Centre for the 2018-19 season, and it appears as if the Toronto Maple Leafs organization will switch their affiliation from Orlando to St. John’s.
“We are working towards a partnership with the Toronto Maple Leafs,” said St. John’s team operations manager Glenn Stanford. “We still have to work towards that, I don’t want to mislead people to think that it’s done. We have to work towards an affiliation agreement — that’ll be the next step in the process.”
Player News
– As the Marlies continue to see their top performers called up, Ben Smith remains a model of consistency. He set a new single-season franchise record for game-winning goals with his eighth of the season and he’s now surpassed the 50-point mark on the year. Two goals and three assists in the past fortnight included a nice assist on the OT game winner against WBS Penguins.
– Mason Marchment signed a two-year entry level contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and tied Ben Smith for the team lead with five points through the most recent six-game stretch. A pair of goals took his season tally to 10 and the winger now sits with 23 points (10-13-23) in 39 games. Marchment is ranked 31st among AHL rookies in points per game (0.59).
– The 72nd win of his AHL career saw Garret Sparks surpass Justin Pogge as the all-time leader in franchise victories. He’s now 25-8-2 this season with a .934 save percentage after recording three straight wins. The last of those against WBS Penguins came in his return from his most recent call-up; despite the six-day absence from competitive action, Sparks was rock solid with a 37-save performance.
– Colin Greening scored in three straight games to give him sixteen on the year, a single-season AHL career high for the veteran forward. Five of those have been game winners.
– Four helpers for Chris Mueller sees him moved into a tie with Andreas Johnsson for the team lead in assists (28) while also surpassing the 40-point mark.
– Calvin Pickard posted two wins and a loss in three starts. The loss came despite recording 34 saves in the defeat to Utica, a game which he kept his team in despite the Marlies getting outplayed. He’s now 19-9-0 on the season with a .924 save percentage.
– Trevor Moore recorded his 15th assist of the season but continues to be a little feast or famine production-wise with three of his four points registered in a single game this past fortnight.
– After a slow start offensively to his Marlies career, Kyle Baun is now being rewarded on the scoresheet for his consistent play since in arriving in Toronto. He scored his first goal in the most recent outing vs. WBS and has produced four points (1-3-4) in his last four games.
– Defenseman Vincent LoVerde has found his offensive touch of late and put up a pair of goals against Laval to take his seasonal total to five, while Calle Rosen registered his first multi-point haul of his AHL career with a pair of assists vs. Providence.
– Even with the new fishbowl mask (something he hopes won‘t last longer than a couple of weeks), Justin Holl has been able to produce offensively with a pair of goals and a single assist for 25 points (7-18-25) this season.
– What a year for Andreas Johnsson. Following his 26th goal of the season for the Marlies — which maintained his point per game pace through 54 games — the Swedish winger was deservedly called up to the Leafs. His first NHL goal looked reminiscent of many in the AHL this season — right place, right time — and it came against Montreal on Hockey Night in Canada, to boot.
– Rich Clune marked the 600th professional game of his career by scoring his third of the season against Laval in the 4-0 victory.
– Miro Aaltonen returned to the line-up against Providence for the first time since suffering a concussion. Understandably, he’s still a little off the pace but he was able to pick up an assist in his second game back.
– Josh Kestner made his Marlies debut in Belleville and scored on the power play in his debut. The Alabama native found some chemistry alongside Colin Greening and Frederik Gauthier at 5v5.
– Niagara University graduate Derian Plouffe was another to make his debut and also showed some promise. He recorded his first professional point in his second game with an assist on Ben Smith’s insurance marker against Belleville.
