The Toronto Marlies may be breaking records on the road but their home form continues to be inconsistent at best.
Even against one of the league’s worst teams, a 25-minute effort from the Marlies wasn’t enough to complete a comeback after falling behind 2-0 in the second period. The Marlies are now 19-13-1 on home ice, compared to 27-5-1 away from the Ricoh Coliseum.
First Period
The opening ten minutes of a scoreless first frame saw Belleville draw two penalties and create an excellent odd-man rush opportunity after a Marlies turnover. Calvin Pickard denied Jim O’Brien on the latter and made a terrific save on the second penalty kill to keep the Senators off the board early.
A power play for the Marlies saw Senators goaltender Danny Taylor deny Chris Mueller and the rebound just evade debutant Brady Ferguson. Toronto also gave up a shorthanded breakaway as the penalty expired, but Pickard bailed his team out in the one-on-one battle with Nick Moutrey.
A dubious call on Rich Clune for interference almost led to the first goal as Jordan Murray struck the post following a give-and-go with Colin White.
Second Period
After Miro Aaltonen couldn’t capitalize on a Belleville turnover 90 seconds into the middle frame, the Senators drew first blood. A misplay from Toronto in the offensive zone allowed Murray to pick off a pass, and he surged down the center of the ice before unloading a slap shot low past Pickard.
White came close on another Belleville breakaway before the Senators doubled the lead just past the midway mark. A blue line to blue line pass carved the Marlies open as Max Reinhart was able to ghost in behind Andrew Nielsen on a pass from David Dziurzynski to extend the Senators lead.
All hell broke loose eight seconds later for Calvin Pickard, who was furious about a no-call from the officials and earned himself an unsportsmanlike misconduct penalty. Sheldon Keefe had seen enough and replaced the netminder with Garret Sparks.
“I just felt it was apparent to me that Picks had lost his focus and composure a little bit, and it was a time when the team was reeling,” said Sheldon Keefe after the game. “I didn’t like putting Sparksy in that situation and Picks has been so good for us in so many areas on and off the ice, so I don’t like having to make that decision, but I felt it was appropriate for the time.”
After Toronto killed that penalty, Jeremy Bracco was sprung on a breakaway as he exited the box. Taylor, almost a passenger for the first 11 minutes of the period, turned aside the rookie winger, who vented his frustration back on the bench.
Sparks kept Toronto in the game with key stops on Reinhart and Dziurzynski before the momentum shift swung the Marlies’ way for the final six minutes of the period.
A shot from Vincent LoVerde was turned aside before a strong drive to the net from Hunter Fejes drew a penalty. How Toronto failed to score in the following man-advantage sequence was down to the excellence of Taylor combined with the absence of any puck luck for the Marlies.
A highlight reel stop to glove a shot from Mueller was the best of the bunch, while Bracco was robbed again, this time with a right pad save. Ben Smith would have had a tap-in but the puck bounced over his stick at the crucial moment, meaning the Marlies continued to trail 2-0 after 40 minutes.
Third Period
With the words of Sheldon Keefe no doubt ringing in their ears, Toronto began the third period just as they had finished the second. Kyle Baun and Adam Brooks both saw shots turned aside in the opening 60 seconds before Toronto drew a penalty and couldn’t make it count.
It felt like one goal from Toronto might open the floodgates, and that proved true as the Marlies struck twice in 55 seconds to tie the game up.
Pierre Engvall did well to keep the play alive on the left wall before throwing the puck behind the net to Bracco. The rookie winger turned provider for Aaltonen, who finished with aplomb for his 17th of the season.
One became two thanks to a quick transition play that resulted in Andrew Nielsen unleashing a cannon of a shot past Taylor from the slot.
A timeout from Belleville head coach Kurt Kleinendorst steadied the Senators’ ship and the game became a little more settled as Toronto struggled to show the same urgency as they did when they were trailing.
The pivotal moment occurred less than 45 seconds after Smith was impeded and no call was forthcoming from the officials. Belleville took advantage of their good fortune by generating a sustained cycle resulting in Moutrey escaping from Timothy Liljegren in the right corner and driving to the net before scoring from a tight angle.
It’s one Sparks likely wanted back, and it meant Toronto had it all to do again with six minutes remaining.
The officials turned a blind eye once more as Adam Brooks was held and then buried to the ice before the increasingly frustrated Bracco ran into a linesman, almost leading directly to a goal for Ben Sexton.
The Marlies pulled Sparks for the extra attacker and finally drew a penalty with 64 seconds remaining. Toronto created one chance of note during 6-on-4 play, but again Taylor pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
A one-time shot from Mueller following a cross-ice feed from Ferguson seemed to hit Taylor — a save he didn’t know much about — with the puck somehow staying out in the ensuing scramble.
After an empty-net goal from White sealed the 4-2 victory, Toronto will now need to regroup for Sunday’s encounter with the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Post Game Notes
– Miro Aaltonen scored for the second consecutive game and now has 17 goals in 56 games this season.
– Brady Ferguson and Hunter Fejes both made their Marlies debuts. There wasn’t a ton to go on; it’s hard to fully gauge one game in what was an overall poor performance from the team, with the Marlies playing from behind for much of the game.
“We took three minor penalties in the first and had a power play of our own,” said Keefe. “That’s almost half the period, and then we’re trying to squeeze what you can out of your offensive people. Ferguson, I thought, made some really good plays on the power play when we used him there. It was difficult to get him much ice on even strength, but he showed lots of skill on the power play, which I was expecting. He has the ability to do that, which is why we put him there. It was difficult to use our bench today, which obviousy isn’t ideal in a three-in-three, but that’s what the circumstances called for.”
– Pierre Engvall found a little chemistry with Aaltonen and Bracco, assisting on the 2-2 goal and recording two shots on goal.
“I thought he came along in the second half of the game a little bit better and got skating, had some shot shots,” said Keefe. “It’s a tough circumstance with him having one practice with the team. He’s coming in and goes from big ice to playing here, but I thought he was good. He’s a big guy and he skates real well. I thought he had some good shifts.”
– Ben Smith fired a game-high seven shots on goal but only picked up an assist – his 28th of the season and 53rd point.
– Saturday’s lines:
Forwards
Engvall – Aaltonen – Bracco
Brooks – Mueller – Smith
Greening – Gauthier – Baun
Fejes – Ferguson – Clune
Defensemen
Marincin – Holl
Borgman – Liljegren
Nielsen – LoVerde
Goaltenders
Pickard
Sparks
