“We have great leadership in the locker room. No panic when we’re down 3-0. Play the right way, get one [goal], and you never know.”
– Zach Solow on Toronto’s comeback
It’s a good quality [battling] to have. Teams that don’t ever quit always give themselves] a chance to win, and we’ve proven that over and over this year. We had some new guys step up in Solow, Sikic, and Stevens, and they got us going. Credit to them and the next-man-up mentality.”
– John Gruden
If a game recap ever required context, it’s this one. The Marlies needed call-ups to field 11 forwards as the promotion of Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin left the team even shorter on firepower.
In opposition were the back-to-back champions in the form of the Hershey Bears. Searching to make it a hat-trick of championships, Hershey has another quality roster this season. The Bears are comfortably on top of the Atlantic Division and had a perfect 6-0-0 road record heading into this game.
Despite a shocking first-period performance in which the Marlies handed the Bears a three-goal lead, Toronto fought and clawed back into the game to record the unlikeliest victory.
First Period
Hershey tore apart the hosts in the opening frame, aided by the Marlies‘ inability to stay out of the penalty box.
Mike Sgarbossa opened the floodgates with a cross-slot pass that flew over the shoulder of Dennis Hildeby via the stick of Marshall Rifai.
Toronto was back on the penalty kill 90 seconds later, and only a flying right pad save from Hildeby prevented further damage. Hildeby kept Toronto in the game with further excellent stops to turn aside Mike Vecchione and Ethan Bear as Hershey threatened to score on every attack.
Toronto killed a third penalty in nine minutes with relative ease. The Marlies also generated their best chance of the period; Philippe Myers and Jacob Quillan broke on a 2v1, with the former denied by Hunter Shepard.
The Bars eventually broke the game open in the final five minutes. A mistake from Rifai led to a breakaway for Brennan Saulnier, although he didn’t get a shot off due to a hooking infraction. On the resulting penalty shot, Saulnier easily beat Hildeby, who was a little too deep in his crease.
A disjointed and dispirited-looking Toronto team gave up the third goal of the period 65 seconds later. To put it bluntly, Hershey was toying with the Marlies as they moved the puck around the offensive zone with impunity before Luke Philp netted his second of the season.
Second Period
After recovering during the intermission, the Marlies should have begun the comeback inside the opening minute. On a power play carrying over from the opening frame, Logan Shaw fired wide with half an empty net to aim at.
Although Toronto fared better in the middle frame, the defensive mistakes reared their head too frequently. When Frank escaped on a breakaway, Myers was forced into a hook on the All-Star forward. The Marlies’ PK stood up to the test and even generated a short-handed chance that Roni Hirvonen couldn’t finish off.
Hirvonen was Toronto’s standout skater, for my money, and turned provider at the six-minute mark. Leading a 2v1, he pulled up, ignored Braeden Kreller, and found Topi Niemelä as the trailer. Unfortunately, the young defenseman fired high over the net.
Hershey should have padded their lead to take the game out of sight with two chances on either side of the midway point. Saulnier inexplicably missed the target when left wide-open in the slot, and a giveaway by Cade Webber resulted in a 2v1 where Hildeby’s athletic save robbed Vecchione.
With Toronto in need of a spark, one arrived in unusual fashion. All three forwards — Zach Solow, Mario Sikic, and Sam Stevens — combined with defensemen Matt Benning and Cade Webber to keep the puck in the Bears’ zone. The star was Solow, who carried the puck from deep in Toronto’s zone to the red line before instigating a successful dump-and-chase race.
Solow prevailed in three subsequent puck battles, inspiring his teammates, and eventually sent the puck into the slot from below the goal line. Webber and Stevens were turned aside, but not Solow, who led the wild celebrations after getting Toronto on the board.
Hildeby, the unsung hero in this game, made a ten-bell save shortly after. A turnover by Nick Abruzzese, followed by Rifai stumbling as he chased to recover, resulted in a breakaway for Garret Roe. It was a huge stop as important as the opening goal, with John Gruden relieved that he didn’t go through with pulling Hildeby from the game as he mentioned he might have in the post-game interview.
A misplay from the Bears in the dying seconds of the period helped Toronto draw within one. All Ethan Bear had to do was hold the puck along the wall to wind down the clock. Instead, he opted for a pass that appeared to deflect off Kressler’s skates and into the slot. Thankfully for the Marlies, Alex Nylander was Johnny on the spot to hammer the puck past Sheppard.
Third Period
The teams combined for just nine shots in the final frame as Hershey looked to cling onto their narrow lead.
An early powerplay for Toronto was hugely disappointing in terms of creating chances or generating momentum.
Hershey had the opportunity to score an insurance marker at the five-minute mark when Mike Sgarbossa was left wide open between the hashmarks, but Hildeby came up with another fantastic save. It proved to be the turning point, as Toronto struck shortly afterward on a power play earned by the endeavors of Ryan Tverberg.
With three seconds remaining on the man advantage, Nylander took matters into his own hands. The Swedish forward beat one opponent before releasing a bullet of a shot from the left circle to tie the game at 3-3.
The Marlies were left frustrated for the remainder of the period. A series of missed calls against Hershey angered the home bench as neither team could settle the game in regulation. The Marlies were the more grateful team when the game meandered to overtime to ensure at least one point apiece.
Overtime
The extra frame may have lasted less than a minute, but there was still plenty of drama.
Hildeby came up with another stellar save as Hershey appeared the likelier team to win the game.
The Bears were livid after Sgarboss spun out at the Toronto blue line, suggesting that Nylander hooked the Hershey forward. The play continued, and Nylander sent Abruzzsese in free.
Not a noted finisher, Abruzzese delivered a bar-down shot that would suggest otherwise to secure the extra point and round off a remarkable comeback victory.
Post Game Notes
– This was Toronto’s fifth consecutive game past regulation, setting a new franchise record. The Marlies are 6-1-2-2 when trailing first and 5-0-1-2 when trailing after the first period, and they are yet to lose in regulation on home ice this season (7-0-0-1).
– With so many absences, Alex Nylander stepped up to the plate with a three-point performance (2G/1A). He was irrepressible through the last 30 minutes of the game, showing the confidence he started the campaign with. Signed to an NHL deal, Nylander now joins the big club as the Maple Leafs‘ rash of injuries at forward continues to test the Marlies’/organizational depth.
– It’s difficult not to like a meat-and-potatoes hockey player like Zach Solow. He left everything on the ice and was a ball of energy for Toronto, providing them with the spark that began the turnaround. He finished with a goal and an assist and has five points (2G/3A) in eight appearances this year.
– Dennis Hildeby deserves credit for shutting the game down after the first period. He may have made just 21 saves, but a handful came on Grade-A scoring chances.
– In his AHL debut, Marko Sikic must have felt like this was a baptism of fire, given the nature of the first period. He settled down after a shaky start and found some early chemistry with Sam Stevens.
“Solow, Sikic, and Stevens got us going,” said Gruden. “Good for them. It’s a next-man-up mentality. They proved that, and good for them.”
– Wednesday’s lineup:
Forwards
Abruzzese – Shaw – Tverberg
Hirvonen – Quillan – Nylander
Mastrosimone – Kressler – Solow
Stevens – Sikic
Defensemen
Webber – Benning
Rifai – Myers
Kokkonen – Niemelä
Matinnen
Goaltenders
Hildeby
Murray
