“I thought there were a lot of good moments in our game leading up to the third period. For the most part, we started well. We were predictable and moved pucks quickly. In the third period, we really locked it in even more when we had to. We scored some nice goals as well.”

– John Gruden

This wasn’t a perfect performance from the Toronto Marlies, but they were good value for the victory overall. When they had their foot on the gas pedal, the Marlies outclassed San Diego. The foot slipped off the pedal a few times, though, allowing San Diego to stay close on the scoreboard until late on.

First Period

The Marlies played at a high tempo from the opening puck drop and dominated the Gulls, outshooting San Diego 4-0 through the first six minutes.

The effervescent Zach Solow led a 2v2 break and beat his man by pulling up and cutting inside. Calle Clan denied Solow with a good double save and followed it up by somehow getting in front of a blast from Cédric Paré.  

The Marlies took a deserved lead 90 seconds later.

With Toronto executing a line change, Topi Niemelä selected the correct option of sending the puck behind the net for Joseph Blanidisi. Alex Steeves was the last player to jump over the boards and snuck undetected to the top of the left circle. Blandisi found Steeves, who delivered his customary one-time bomb to open the scoring. 

Blandisi and Steeves combined again shortly after to tee up William Villeneuve in the slot. After good work to join the rush and find space, the finishing attempt from the defenseman fell way short.

Dennis Hildeby was only an interested onlooker until the final seven minutes of the frame. He made a sharp shoulder save to deny Judd Caulfield before making an even better stop two minutes later.

With Alex Nylander injured by a debatable hit in the San Diego zone, the Gulls transitioned at speed to create a 2v1. Hildeby robbed Nathan Gaucher from the slot, the only Grade-A scoring chance of the frame for the Gulls.

The Marlies almost immediately repaid their netminder. Solow was again in the thick of the action, but Clang continued to be his nemesis with another tremendous save.

Second Period

The Marlies got off to a fast start to the middle frame, generating a high-danger chance inside 40 seconds. Leading a rush down the right wing, Villeneuve was the architect of a drop pass perfectly weighted to the trailer, Matthew Barbolini. Clang came to the recuse with a glove save, giving up no second opportunity.

The tide turned on the second penalty of the game.

Kyle Clifford came within a whisker of scoring short-handed as he charged down Clang, who was hesitant in possession, but the puck didn’t fall for Toronto. Within seconds, the Marlies gave up the lead with a leaky sequence of penalty killing.

After Marlies’ PK made a mess of their sort-out on the entry defense, Sasha Pastujov broke in and made no mistake with a quality finish.

The foot was now off the gas from Toronto, and San Diego surged forward with intent. A broken stick in the defensive zone didn’t help matters, but Toronto didn’t help themselves with two failed clearances as the Gulls swarmed the Marlies’ net. Hildeby stepped up to deny Yegor Sidorov and Carson Meyer and then rode his luck as the Gulls struck the crossbar.

The Marlies regain their footing by drawing a penalty and netting on the subsequent power play. Roni Hirvonen found Solow in the high slot, where the diminutive forward took a second to settle down the puck before ripping a shot past Clang. I didn’t know Solow had that kind of a shot in his toolbox, but the coaches were rewarded for giving him the opportunity on the second unit.

Nathan Gaucher should have made the Marlies pay from the restart after a turnover gifted him possession in the slot, but he fired high.

Robert Mastrosimone drew a penalty after an extra effort along the boards frustrated the Gulls. Toronto created some good looks on the ensuing power play but couldn’t strike for a second time.

The elephant in the room was the antics of a desperate Gulls team. San Diego flopped and dove on every occasion, the behaviour of a squad struggling in the standings and desperate for points at any cost.

A fantastic defensive play by Cade Webber following a mistake by Solow should have resulted in Hildeby covering the puck for a defensive-zone faceoff. Webber was called for hooking — it looked like a dive — and San Diego did not pass up their good fortune with the extra skater.

It was a case of deja vu as Steeves first went close to scoring on a 2v1 rush. San Diego broke the zone with the slingshot play as Toronto’s penalty killers were again out of sorts on the entry, and Justin Bailey sniped low past Hildeby.

There was still time for another dubious penalty call before the intermission buzzer. Mastrosimone called for interference after a stick lift sent his opponent sprawling to the ice.

Third Period

Toronto’s penalty killing, except for the two aforementioned mistakes, has been good overall this season, and it stepped up to the plate at the start of the third to see out Mastrosimone’s infraction.

The Marlies proceeded to take the game by the scruff of the neck. They only gave up one Grade-A scoring chance (in the final minute of the period) while generating plenty of quality scoring opportunities to win the game. 

Blandisi and Clifford went close to scoring the go-ahead goal before relentless pressure finally paid off at the eight-minute mark.

Mikko Kokkonen deserves huge credit. He broke up a play in the defensive zone by catching the puck before assisting in the zone exit. Kokkoken didn’t sit back, activating through the neutral zone after taking a pass in his stride from Paré. His shot went wide of the target, but he retrieved possession and took two defenders out of the play with a wonderful backhand pass to find Solow.

Solow credited Toronto’s goaltending coach with his third goal, as Hannu Toivonen had highlighted Clang’s tendencies in the pre-scout video. Solow lifted the puck over the netminder’s right shoulder to beat him short-side with a perfectly placed shot.

Toronto doubled the lead a little over two minutes later. Nick Abruzzese showed what a classy playmaker he can be when he’s on his game with a behind-the-back feed from below the goal line to pick out Paré in the left circle through traffic. The Quebec native isn’t always clinical in such situations, but he delivered on this occasion with a finish Steeves would have been proud of.

From the restart, the gloves were dropped as Jan Myšák duked it out with Paré. The Toronto man won the bout on points, drawing blood from his opponent to record his first Gordie Howe hat trick.

San Diego drew within one with a third power-play goal of the game. It was disappointing from Toronto’s perspective after keeping the Gulls out of the offensive zone for 90 seconds, only for Marshall Rifai to botch a clearance when the puck finally crossed the blue line. Rodwin Dionicio’s point shot took at least one deflection before finding the net.

The Marlies didn’t panic and continued to assert themselves back at five-on-five, with Steeves and Nylander coming close to extending the lead. An empty net goal from Clifford with two minutes remaining sealed a deserved victory for Toronto.


Post Game Notes

– The Marlies are 6-2-0 on their 10-game Boat Show Road Trip with two games remaining (San Diego and Bakersfield). Their overall road record is an impressive 12-6-3. Toronto improved to 12-2-1 when scoring first.

–  Zach Solow recorded his first career AHL multi-goal game. He’s not a familiar name to many, but he is the type of player who would run through a wall for his teammates and takes on any role without complaint. It was nice to see him rewarded on the scoreboard, and there was no fluke about the two goals, as both were high-class finishes.

–  The AHL’s leading goal scorer, Alex Steeves‘ opening goal was his 23rd this season (in 32 games) and fourth in his last four games. He’s only a hat-trick away from becoming the Marlies’ all-time leading goal scorer.

–  Joseph Blandisi hasn’t found offense as easy to come by this season, partly a by-product of bouncing around the lineup. But he’s now extended his point streak to four games (3-4-7) with an assist on the game’s opening goal. It’ll be interesting to see if he remains in the top six with Jacob Quillan back on the roster and Fraser Minten likely to return sooner rather than later.

– Wednesday’s lineup:

Forwards
Hirvonen – Shaw – Abruzzese
Nylander – Blandisi – Steeves
Clifford – Paré – Barbolini
Mastrosimone – Tverberg – Solow

Defensemen
Webber – Benning
Rifai- Villeneuve
Kokkonen – Niemelä

Goaltenders
Hildeby
Akhtyamov


Post-Game Media Availability: Solow, Pare & Gruden


Game Highlights: Marlies 5 vs. Gulls 3