“It was a pretty sleepy game. I thought [Matt Murray] had our backs for a lot of it. There wasn’t anything disastrous, but I thought we all had more (to give). That was the dialogue from [Logan Shaw] in the locker room, to ramp it up a little bit more.
“I think when [Cade Webber] blocked that shot with his face, our whole bench was like, ‘Let’s go.’ It was the play of the game. From a kid like that, it’s pretty special, and afterward, you saw the adrenaline from our team.”
– Alex Steeves
“We started to play with some urgency, especially in the second half of [the third]. The Paré line was outstanding to tie the game up. Matt Murray was the difference. If it wasn’t for him, it could have been 5-1.”
– John Gruden
With their playoff lives still on the line, the Toronto Marlies strangely lacked intensity against a Utica team set for the golf course this spring. Once they flipped the switch in the third period, the Marlies roared back to complete the comeback and earn two valuable points.
First Period
Matt Murray needed to be sharp from the puck drop as Toronto gave up two Grade-A chances in the opening 90 seconds to Shane Bowers and Josh Filmon.
The Comets were rarely under pressure, with Toronto only creating three offensive moments of note. Roni Hirvonen led an odd-man rush but couldn’t score off his own rebound after an initial pad save; Alex Nylander couldn’t generate enough power on a chance from the slot, and Robert Mastrosimone fired wide from the bumper spot on the power play.
Murray made another excellent save to deny Xavier Parent, but the respite was temporary. Jonathan Gruden won a faceoff in the left dot back to Cam Squires, who registered his first professional goal with a snapshot from the top of the circle.
Second Period
Toronto appeared to turn the corner by scoring 34 seconds into the middle frame. Nylander, Logan Shaw, and Nick Abruzzese combined, with the latter finding the net with a one-time shot.
The Marlies gave up the goal back less than three minutes later when they were caught running around after another lost defensive-zone draw. Murray would have been disappointed to be beaten by Colton White’s top-shelf finish from an acute angle.
The Marlies generated three Grade-A chances in response, but Nylander, Shaw, and Steeves couldn’t beat Isaac Poulter. Barring one further chance of the rush created by the top line and fired wide by Shaw, the Marlies were second-best through the middle frame. They wasted a 4v3 power play despite sending out four forwards in an attempt to find the go-ahead goal.
Gruden was robbed on a breakaway for the Comets, and Murray made additional saves on Ryan Schmelzer, Colton White, and Ethan Edwards. Utica fired a handful of shots wide of the target from other promising positions.
Third Period
It was more of the same for Toronto in the first seven minutes of the final frame. Zach Solow couldn’t convert a backhand chance in close, and the Marlies spurned a power play opportunity.
Tommy Miller took a bad cross-checking penalty after flubbing a pass, leading to a giveaway. His mistake didn’t prove costly, as Murray produced three outstanding saves from point-blank range to rob Schmelzer and White (x2).
The turning point Steeves reference arrived with 12:30 remaining. On a 3v2 rush, Utica looked set to score via Gruden. A sliding Cade Webber threw himself in front of the shot, taking the puck directly off his face. Somehow, the defenseman wasn’t the worse for wear, and his sacrifice fired up the Marlies’ bench.
The tying goal had everything to do with desire and tenacity, in stark contrast to the Marlies’ opening 20 minutes. The fourth line crashed and banged around the net, and William Villeneuve was on hand to score after the puck sprang free from a melee in the crease.
The eventual game-winner followed a similar theme. A relentless shift of cycling the puck generated a chance in the left circle, where Steeves rifled the puck over Poulter’s shoulder to give Toronto a 3-2 lead with 5:31 remaining.
The Marlies made sure of victory with three goals in a wild 20 — yes, 20 — seconds.
A wonderfully crafted chipped pass through the neutral zone from Steeves sent Shaw away, and Toronto’s captain cut across the crease to score on the backhand past Poulter. Jacob Quillan then made it 5-2 as the Marlies capitalized on a misjudged pulling of the netminder. From the restart, Utica turned the puck over to Abruzzese, who teed up Nylander to score.
It was a remarkable finish to an unremarkable game, but the most important part was that the Marlies secured the two points.
Post Game Notes
– Toronto moved ahead of Cleveland in the standings by a point to sit fourth. Third place is probably a pipe-dream as Syracuse is two points clear, owns the tiebreaker, and plays Utica in its two remaining games. The magic number to qualify for the postseason is one. Finishing fourth would guarantee home advantage for the first-round best-of-three series.
– Toronto’s final three goals of the game were scored in 20 seconds (17:53, 18:08, 18:13) – the fastest in franchise history. The Marlies have scored five goals in the third period twice this season (Hershey, Dec 21).
– With his goal in the third period, Logan Shaw (168) is now tied with Kris Newbury for second on the Marlies’ all-time point register.
– Nick Abruzzese had his seventh three-point game (1G/2A) and has eight points (2-6-8) in three consecutive games. The winger has brought his A-game just when the team needed him most.
– Alex Steeves tied the all-time franchise record for game-winning goals (19). He also tied the single-season goal record with his 36th of the season in 58 games. Steeves was named to the 2024-25 AHL Second All-Star Team.
– Matt Murray turned aside 23 of 25 shots to record his 10th victory. He’s 2-0-1 in his last three starts with a .943 save percentage.
“[Murray] did everything he was asked,” said Gruden. “He is an outstanding goaltender, and then our guys rebounded from that.”
– This was the third consecutive two-point game for William Villeneuve (1G/1A). The defenseman has set season-highs in each scoring category (4G/36A/40P).
– Wednesday’s lineup:
Forwards
Abruzzese – Shaw – Nylander
Blandisi – Quillan – Steeves
Hirvonen – Haymes – Solow
Baddock – Paré – Mastrosimone
Defensemen
Kokkonen – Benning
Rifai – Villeneuve
Webber – Miller
Goaltenders
Murray
Hildeby
