“We were playing a desperate team that hasn’t had much success, but I thought [Bridgeport] played extremely well. I did like the pace of the game. Of course, we wouldn’t want to give up a two-goal lead, but I thought we did a lot of good things tonight.”
– John Gruden
After two straight losses, the Toronto Marlies needed to find a way to put some points on the board. With Bridgeport marooned at the foot of the AHL standings with a horrific home record (3-20-3), this was a must-win for the visiting Marlies.
First Period
There was little to write home about for Toronto in the opening frame. Barring one shot from Logan Shaw 60 seconds in and a Grade-A chance for Robert Mastrosimone at the midway mark, the Marlies were second best for most of the period.
Denis Hildeby made a sharp early save on Alex Jeffries and was solid on the penalty kill with a pair of stops on Chris Terry. The Marlies netminder was far busier than his counterpart, making additional saves on Liam Foudy and Justin Gill from the slot.
A reckless and late blindside hit by Marshall Warren on Matthew Barbolini allowed Toronto to gain late traction. How on earth Warren was only assessed an interference penalty summed up the officials’ performance, which John Gruden expressed frustration about in his post-game comments, as it was the same referee from the previous game (Jordan Deckard) in which the Marlies received eight minor penalties.
Joseph Blandisi didn’t bury two great chances, while an effort from Alex Nylander had the Islanders’ goaltender beat at his near post, but the puck lay in the blue paint before it was cleared.
Second Period
The difference between the teams in the first six minutes was Hildeby. In the opening two minutes, he robbed Jack Randl (x2) and Jeffries on high-danger chances as Bridgeport threatened to surge into a substantial lead. Bridgeport had consecutive power plays but couldn’t find a way past Hildeby, who produced six excellent saves, including denying Jeffries on a partial breakaway.
Chas Sharpe exited the box as the second penalty expired and found himself on a breakaway. Henrik Tikkanen turned aside the rookie defenseman, but it proved a turning point in Toronto’s fortunes.
The Marlies struck on the power play courtesy of a familiar scorer. Alex Steeves rocketed a one-time shot from the top of the right circle to break the deadlock.
Toronto doubled their lead 27 seconds later. A nicely worked transition play between Barbolini and William Villeneuve ended with the latter dishing off to Nylander. From almost the same spot as the first goal, Nylander ripped a shot into the far corner of the Bridgeport net.
The Marlies failed to capitalize on a second power play, which proved costly. Bridgeport halved the deficit shortly after as Samuel Bolduc’s rising shot through traffic put the Islanders on the board.
It was rough justice for Hildeby, who continued to stymie the Islanders from the restart. The goaltender took care of four more high-danger scoring chances to keep the lead intact.
Toronto could and should have made life easier for their netminder by padding the lead late in the frame. None of Blandisi, Barbolini, or Paré could capitalize on rebound opportunities.
Third Period
Two high-sticking penalties inside the opening 90 seconds left Toronto facing a 5v3 for 1:21. The penalty kill stepped up to the plate, coming through unscathed as Hildeby wasn’t called into action.
No momentum was built from the kill as Marlies got themselves in the mindset of protecting the lead. Toronto generated one chance of note, which Jacob Quillan couldn’t take advantage of from point-blank range.
Bridgeport enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and offensive-zone time without ever looking likely to score. That was until a defensive breakdown presented them with a tying goal. Bolduc’s slap-pass into the heart of the slot was redirected home by Adam Beckman.
The Marlies offered no offensive response after the 2-2 goal. Equally, they never appeared in danger through the remainder of regulation time as one point was secured for each team.
Overtime
Both teams spurned chances to win in a high-octane overtime period.
Topi Niemelä and Steeves went close for Toronto, but Hildeby was once more the star. He denied Brian Pinho on a 2v1 and then turned aside Bolduc and Tyce Thompson.
A turnover by Niemelä in the Marlies’ zone wasn’t punished as an errant pass was collected by Steeves, who turned defense into attack with a withering drive toward the Bridgeport net. The winger’s speed created a 2v1 situation, and Steeves turned provider for Quillan to finish off the game-winner.
Post Game Notes
– Dennis Hildeby turned aside 35 of 37 shots for his 11th win this season. He’s 2-0-1 in his last three starts, posting a combined .940 save percentage.
“[Hildeby] was great,” said Gruden. “He made some game-changing saves.”
– A two-point haul for Alex Steeves included his 100th AHL career goal.
– Jacob Quillan has now scored in three straight games. This was his first-ever game-winning goal in the AHL.
– “We are trying to give each line a guy that is big, strong, and give those other guys (with skill) the puck a little more,” said Gruden. “We’re trying to use a little bit of a different philosophy. The first couple of lines would be the first to tell you they haven’t had success scoring five-on-five goals. We figured they’d give them another element of a big, strong guy who is going to win some puck battles and get pucks to them a little bit quicker.”
As I wrote a few weeks ago, it’s a sensible line-construction approach by the head coach and a strategy I endorse. The decision to push Matthew Barbolini onto the first line worked well, and I hope this experiment isn’t a one-and-done.
– Saturday’s lineup:
Forwards
Barbolini – Shaw – Nylander
Abruzzese – Quillan – Steeves
Mastrosimone – Blandisi – Solow
Hirvonen – Paré – Tverberg
Defensemen
Rifai – Sharpe
Webber – Miller
Villeneuve – Niemelä
Goaltenders
Hildeby
Akhtyamov
