“The momentum swings went against us. We have to spend a little more time in their end and probably get a little more traffic. I thought we did some good things, but we have to clean up a few.”
– John Gruden
This iteration of the Toronto Marlies is fast becoming a frustrating team to follow. With a healthy roster playing at or near its best, the Marlies are capable of a deep playoff run. The problem is that Toronto rarely delivers anything close to a 60-minute performance and often has to play catch-up in the second half of games.
Defensive zone coverage has become a real problem. It cost them a couple of easy goals at five-on-five, as Belleville built 3-0 and 4-1 leads in the third period.
First Period
The Marlies spent the first five minutes almost exclusively in the defensive zone. The Senators cycled the puck without much resistance, wearing down the Marlies and waiting for a breakdown to capitalize on. One arrived at the three-minute mark when Hayden Hodgon was left unattended in the slot, but Dennis Hildeby produced a big early save.
The Marlies dominated the shot clock (15-8) and generated more high-danger scoring chances in the first period, but they couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard. After posting a shutout in his previous start, a confident Leevi Meriläinen shut down Fraser Minten, Jacob Quillan, and Cedric Paré.
With two minutes remaining, a sloppy moment with the puck behind the Marlies’ net led to the opening goal for Belleville. Marshall Rifai was unaware of Sam Gagner closing down on him from the other side of the net while retrieving a dump-in. A bad bounce resulted in the puck finding Garrett Pilon out front, where he buried the 1-0 goal.
Toronto almost tied the game with 40 seconds left on the clock. Alex Nylander snatched possession at the Marlies’ blue line and streaked away toward the Senators’ net. He made a nice move to beat Meriläinen, but his finish hit the post and slid across the blue paint.
Second Period
Belleville came out with intensity for the first 30 seconds and had Toronto scrambling before Logan Shaw broke the pressure with a breakaway.
The Marlies captain couldn’t provide the type of finish that had won his team the previous game against Syracuse.
Nylander, Minten, and Nick Abruzzesse wasted high-quality scoring chances before Toronto faced consecutive penalties.
The first kill was a work of art, most notable for an excellent shot-block from Cade Webber and Joseph Blandisi’s (missed) breakaway opportunity.
Toronto nearly struck again on the second PK. A huge neutral zone hit by Steeves sent Minten on a partial breakaway, but his finish didn’t have enough juice to trouble the Sens netminder.
Hildeby had to make one save of note, and it was spectacular. Wyatt Bongiovanni looked odds-on to score with half a net to aim at, but Hildeby threw himself to his right to make a blocker save, losing his stick in the process.
The Marlies’ bench celebrated, but it turned out the save only delayed the inevitable. Belleville struck another late goal, this time with 58 seconds remaining.
A neutral-zone turnover and a sloppy sort-out defensively — Cade Webber should handed his man off instead of chasing him across the zone — resulted in Cole Reinhardt’s pass splitting the Marlies’ defenders, and Stephen Halliday netted his 14th goal of the season
The goal appeared to deflate the Marlies, who would have trailed 3-0 heading into the intermission if Hildeby hadn’t come up with a wonderful save to turn aside Pilon in the final second.
Third Period
Toronto survived giving up a Grade-A scoring chance to Cole Reinhardt inside 60 seconds, but it was only a brief reprieve. Too many Marlies chased the puck below the goal line, and Wyatt Bongiovanni was left unattended in front to finish off a pass from Maxence Guenette.
With over 15 minutes left in regulation, Toronto required a spark and quickly. They struck back just over 60 seconds later. Roni Hirvonen was alert to Dakota Mermis ringing a shot around the net and reacted first to open Toronto’s account.
The Marlies couldn’t build on the goal, registering just one shot in the following nine minutes before falling 4-1 behind.
Jamieson Rees wasted a gilt-edge chance after a mistake from Blandisii, but Angus Crookshank wasn’t as charitable. His effort from the left circle found the far corner of the net to give Belleville a commanding lead.
The goal awoke Toronto from its slumber, and they responded 72 seconds later. A pretty tic-tac-toe sequence featuring William Villeneuve, Hirvonen, and Jacob Quillan resulted in a goal for the latter.
Hildeby headed to the bench with over three minutes remaining, and Toronto set siege to the Senators’ net. Blandisi potted from point-blank range to set up an interesting finish with 68 seconds left on the clock.
There would be no miraculous comeback, though, as a misplay from Shaw turned over the puck, and Donovan Sebrango sent the puck almost the entire length of the ice to score an empty-net goal and secure the victory for Belleville.
Post Game Notes
– Roni Hirvonen registered his first three-point haul (1G/2A) in the AHL. John Gruden mixed up the lines, and Hirvonen found an instant connection with Jacob Quillan, who assisted on each other’s goals.
“We made the switch in the third period, and it seemed to work,” said Gruden. “It was noticeable, and it’s something we’ll let them run with (on Saturday).”
– Injury update: Kyle Clifford — upper body, day-to-day; Mikko Kokkonen — lower body, day-to-day.
– Friday’s lineup:
Forwards
Abruzzese – Shaw – Nylander
Hirvonen – Minten – Steeves
Grebenkin – Paré – Quillan
Blandisi – Tverberg – Solow
Defensemen
Mermis – Niemelä
Rifai- Miller
Webber – Villeneuve
Goaltenders
Hildeby
Akhtyamov
