Advertisement

It was a case of too little, too late for the Toronto Marlies as a bad start sunk them in their home opener on Monday afternoon.

The banner-raising ceremony did little to inspire the home team as sloppy play and a lack of competitive intensity from the Marlies early allowed Cleveland to build a commanding four-goal advantage that proved insurmountable despite a valiant comeback attempt from Toronto.

First Period

Kasimir Kaskisuo was called into early action to deny Zac Dalpe, but the Finnish netminder could do little to prevent Cleveland from opening the scoring with 3:22 on the clock. Ryan MacInnis sent a speculative pass toward the blue paint, where Andrew Nielsen ended up deflecting the puck into his own net.

Just two minutes elapsed before the Monsters doubled their advantage. Sam Gagner turned the puck over at his own blue line to Justin Scott, who proceeded to beat Kaskisuo with a low, far side shot that the goaltender definitely wanted back.

The Marlies were outshot 10-0 to start the game — albeit not helped by a debatable interference call on Pierre Engvall — before they finally created a scoring chance at the midway point of the period.

Dmytro Timashov drove down the right side before pulling up and sending a perfect pass down the center of the ice to Jeremy Bracco, who drew a sharp save out of Jean-Francois Berube.

Against the run of play, the Marlies then brought themselves within one on the power play. Carl Grundstrom and Timashov combined to set up Chris Mueller, who beat Berube with a well-placed one-timer.

Cleveland hit back before the break, however, on another own goal as Andreas Borgman redirected a cross-ice pass from Michael Prapavessis past a helpless Kaskisuo.

Second Period

Trailing 3-1, the Marlies needed a big push from the restart, but the game quickly slipped away from them following an early chance for Engvall. A pair of penalties put the Marlies down by two men and Dalpe took advantage by thundering a slap shot past Kaskisuo.

The Marlies had clearly lost their heads at this stage as Tommy Cross was allowed to dance straight down the middle of the Toronto defense on his backhand before teeing up Dalpe for his second goal inside five minutes of the second period.

Just 16 seconds later, the Ricoh crowd was celebrating a much-needed response thanks to Grundstrom’s extra effort inside the Cleveland zone to retrieve possession. Gagner’s top-shelf finish to halve the deficit was sublime.

Nathan Gerbe failed to hit the target on a breakaway before Sam Gagner lost control of the puck in a similar situation in a similar situation. Gerbe then struck the post on the power play for Cleveland, which would’ve more or less put the game to bed.

Instead, the Marlies got themselves back into the game. Calle Rosen, off to a torrid start to the year offensively, unleashed a cannon from just above the left circle and the Marlies trailed 5-3 with 20 minutes remaining.

Third Period

The third performance from the Marlies was far more like what is expected of them from the start, but despite out-shooting 20-2, the Marlies were unable to breach the Cleveland net.

Adam Cracknell, Trevor Moore and Colin Greening had the best scoring chances, while the Marlies certainly weren’t helped by Chris Mueller leaving the game just a minute into the final frame after an awkward-looking fall.

Kaskisuo sat on the bench for over four minutes to finish the game as Toronto went for broke with the extra attacker, but credit to Cleveland, who remained resolute to clinch their third consecutive victory to begin the season.


Post Games Notes

– The Marlies power play has recorded a goal in all three opening games and is 3-for-15 on the year. Not unlike the big club’s start to the year as far as the work in progress with the team’s structure at 5v5, the Marlies have allowed 15 goals in three games.

– Sheldon Keefe voiced his frustration at the Marlies schedule to begin this campaign during his post-game presser, saying it’s the worst he’s ever seen to start the year. The Marlies have practiced just once as a team and it’s certainly showed in much of their play over this past weekend.

Sam Gagner registered his second straight multi-point game as a Marlie (1-1-2) in the losing effort.

Calle Rosen potted his first goal of the season and has recorded at least a point in each game to date (1-3-4). It took the defenseman until late February to score his first goal last season, so he’s picking up where he left off with a great start to the new season.

Justin Peters has been released from his PTO, but Ryan Sproul and Kyle Cumisky are still with the team.

– The Marlies have three days to practice up before a pair of weekend games against Utica.

– Monday’s lines:

Forwards
Grundstrom – Mueller – Gagner
Timashov – Cracknell – Moore
Engvall – Jooris – Bracco
Clark – Greening – Piccinich

Defensemen
Rosen – Liljegren
Borgman – LoVerde
Nielsen – Subban

Goaltenders
Kaskisuo
Glass


Game Highlights


Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe