“We came out hard (in the first period). In the second period, we fell asleep a little bit, and it got away from us. It was a good effort tonight, but they just found a way to win that one, and we are going to have to be better down the stretch to get away with those.”
– Joseph Blandisi
“[Cleveland] got momentum after that power-play goal [in the second period], and we were fighting it from that point. In the third period, we’re even going in, and they made a play when they had to. We got a little loose on that 4v4, and it cost us.”
– John Gruden
The start of 2025 has not been kind to the Toronto Marlies, albeit they can have few complaints about their fate in three consecutive home losses.
Arguably, this was Toronto’s best first-period performance of the season, but they finished the opening 20 minutes without enough goals to show for it.
With this defeat, the Marlies have lost a staggering 16 straight against Cleveland, and most of the defeats had the same theme. The Marlies continue to find new and frustrating ways to beat themselves against the Monsters.
First Period
The Marlies could easily have been up 4-0 inside five minutes. Matthew Barbolini, Nick Abruzzese, and Topi Niemelä couldn’t bury Grade-A chances, while Fraser Minten thumped a shot against the post after a nice give-and-go with Alex Nylander.
Barbolini would have scored on a feed from Jacob Quillan if not for a hook. The resulting power play was predictable and slow, as Jet Greaves went untested.
Toronto opened the scoring on Cleveland’s first man-advantage. After he was forced to the locker room early in the period due to an uncalled high stick, Cédric Paré channeled his frustrations. The veteran centerman escaped on a breakaway and held off the attention of three backchecking defenders before finishing off his own rebound.
The Monsters were limited to three shots in the opening frame, all in the final six minutes. Toronto never looked likely to concede, but frustratingly, they couldn’t turn their dominance over the offensive-zone time, puck possession, and scoring chances into a more commanding lead.
Nikita Grebenkin and Nylander could not shovel home rebound opportunities following a booming point shot from Matt Benning.
Second Period
The Marlies were lackadaisical in the first nine minutes of the middle frame but remained in control of the game. That was until Toronto gifted Cleveland a power play goal.
Gavin Brindley should never have been allowed to skate untouched from almost the point to low in the left circle, but Matt Murray made a mess of the resulting shot from an acute angle. Cleveland’s goal occurred on their fourth shot of the game with 29:30 played.
The Monsters grew into the game from that point and, in the final five minutes, they put the Marlies under sustained pressure. Murray redeemed himself a little with a handful of saves to ensure the game remained deadlocked through 40 minutes.
Third Period
Toronto earned consecutive power plays to start the third period and capitalized on the second man-advantage. Alex Steeves belted a one-timer past Greaves to hand Toronto a 2-1 lead.
John Gruden would have been urging his team to manage the game from that point, given their recent form and the opponent. His words fell on deaf ears as Toronto presented Cleveland with a tying goal 79 seconds later.
One simple pass from Max McCue cut out three Toronto skaters, and Murray couldn’t deny Cameron Butler from scoring just his second goal of the current campaign.
Kyle Clifford had two Grade-A chances on his stick during a shift where his line dominated, and 60 seconds later, Grebenkin’s shot from the slot was stopped.
That’s as close as Toronto came to scoring again in this game before they conceded an ugly game-winning goal with five minutes remaining. During 4v4 action, William Villeneuve and Nylander miscommunicated a give-and-go in the defensive zone, and Luca Del Bel Belluz shrugged off the latter to claim possession. Murray overplayed the situation as Del Bel Belluz circled the net and lost his stick while throwing himself to his left in recovery mode. The rebound from the wraparound attempt fell to Grimaldi, who couldn’t miss from point-blank range.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Steeves gave it away at the Cleveland blue line with Murray on the bench for an extra attacker. The turnover found Dylan Gambrell, who finished into the empty net.
Post Game Notes
– After avoiding a regulation defeat on home ice in the entire 2024 portion of the schedule, the Marlies have lost three on the bounce at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Toronto scored first for just the tenth time (30 games) this season.
– Cédric Paré’s opening tally was his first career shorthanded goal. The centerman has five goals and 10 points this season through 19 games.
– With an assist on the second goal, Joseph Blandisi recorded his 300th AHL point. He has 116 goals and 184 assists in 411 AHL games.
– Sunday’s lineup:
Forwards
Abruzzese – Shaw – Steeves
Grebenkin – Minten – Nylander
Clifford – Paré – Blandisi
Barbolini – Quillan – Solow
Defensemen
Kokkonen – Benning
Rifai – Villeneuve
Webber – Niemelä
Goaltenders
Murray
Akhtyamov
