“That’s a big win. It was a good effort from the coaching staff down. Dennis (Hildeby) stood on his head, and we’re going to need that this time of the year, but I’m proud of our guys and proud of our group.”
– Logan Shaw
“Our guys did an unbelievable job today, getting big saves and big blocks. When we needed Dennis, he was definitely there tonight.”
– John Gruden
This was an exercise in timely scoring and bending but not breaking when under pressure for the Toronto Marlies. A 3-0 victory in Rochester clinched a playoff berth, and results elsewhere meant the Marlies will finish in fourth place. More on that later.
First Period
The first five minutes were frantic, and both teams could have built a healthy lead. Dennis Hildeby robbed Anton Wahlberg, and Zachary Metsa rocketed a shot off the post for the Amerks.
Devon Levi matched his counterpart with excellent saves on Luke Haymes, Alex Nylander, and Jacob Quillan.
Josh Dunne sold an interference penalty to no avail, as the Marlies‘ penalty kill stood firm.
Hildeby continued to defy Rochester, rejecting Josh Dunne twice and then Aleksandr Kisakov before Toronto stormed out to a late-period lead.
Luke Haymes won his battle to break up an Amerks attack, allowing Nylander to carry the puck through the neutral zone. The latter sent Nick Abruzzese away down the left wing, where the in-form winger produced a quality finish past Levi.
Second Period
Rochester tilted the ice in the middle frame, aided by some poor play from Toronto.
Giveaways off the sticks of William Villeneuve and Marshall Rifai went unpunished in the first five minutes, but it set the wrong tone. A failure to clear their lines and some icings helped the Amerks crank up the pressure.
Hildeby turned aside 16 shots in the second period, seven of which were Grade-A scoring chances for the hosts. It was unconventional at times, but you could only admire how Hildeby battled when under siege from the Amerks.
Against the run of play, Toronto made Rochester pay for a mistake. Seconds after another huge shot block by Cade Webber, Lukáš Rousek stumbled at the Marlies‘ blue line while in possession. Nylander didn’t need a second invitation to escape on a breakaway, and he comprehensively solved Levi to give Toronto a 2-0 lead.
Third Period
The Marlies invited more pressure early in the final frame with the same shortcomings that plagued their second-period start. The difference was that the Marlies did a far better job limiting quality chances; Hildeby made just two saves of note to turn aside Mason Jobst and Riley Fiddler-Schultz.
Toronto’s penalty kill was twice called into action due to silly penalties from Zach Solow (elbow) and Rifai (delay of game under no pressure). The Marlies may have ridden their luck as Kisakov struck the crossbar, but otherwise, there were some stellar efforts from Webber and Matt Benning, who remained on the ice for the entirety of the second kill.
Abruzzese had a chance to seal victory with four minutes remaining, but he couldn’t beat Levi from close range after excellent work from Nylander.
It was left to Robert Mastrosimone to secure the win with an empty-net goal built on the hard work of Alex Steeves and Logan Shaw.
Post Game Notes
– The Marlies improved to 19-4-1-2 when scoring first and recorded its sixth shutout of the season.
– With the primary assist on the empty-net goal, Logan Shaw (169) moved past Kris Newbury (168) for sole possession of second on the Marlies’ all-time point register.
– Nick Abruzzese extended his point streak to four games (3G/5A) with the game-winning goal.
– Dennis Hildeby made 32 saves to record his second shutout of the season. He’s set to serve as Toronto’s number one heading into the postseason.
“[Hildeby] would probably be the first to say he wasn’t overly happy with the consistency in his play,” said Gruden. “But in the last few starts, the game wasn’t really fair to him. There was nothing he could do. He has come up really big and made some really big saves [tonight]. We won two big games because of him. He is a battler who prepares. He is still learning and is still young. Good for him to have a big game in a huge moment.”
– There were a couple of bright moments offensively for Borya Valis in his debut. It was difficult for him to make a bigger impact as Rochester generally controlled possession, but the rookie wasn’t overwhelmed.
– Roni Hirvonen sustained an injury in a heavy collision in the first period and did not return from the locker room after the intermission.
– With a fourth-place finish, Toronto’s playoff campaign starts with a best-of-three series against Cleveland. A series preview will be published next week.
– Friday’s lineup:
Forwards
Abruzzese – Shaw – Nylander
Mastrosimone – Quillan – Steeves
Valis – Blandisi – Solow
Barbolini – Haymes – Hirvonen
Defensemen
Kokkonen – Benning
Webber – Villeneuve
Rifai – Miller
Goaltenders
Hildeby
Akhtyamov
