“[Lehigh] carried the play in the first 10 minutes. I thought Joe [Woll] made some really big saves. Then, we scored the first goal at the end of the period. We had a really poor second period. [Lehigh] played well, but I thought we gave them a lot.”
– John Gruden on the Marlies‘ 3-2 loss to Lehigh
The opening frame represented the Toronto Marlies‘ best chance to take anything from this game. After surviving a barrage in the opening five or six minutes, the Marlies generated a plethora of quality scoring chances. A lack of traffic in the crease and some subpar finishing led to only one Toronto goal. Ultimately, the Maries’ performance in the second period sealed their fate.
First Period
There was a heart-stopping moment for the entire Maple Leafs organization just 75 seconds into the game. Devin Kaplan’s rising shot hit Joseph Woll directly in the mask, knocking his helmet clean off. Thankfully, the netminder shook off the early scare and went on to stop Grade-A scoring chances for Hunter McDonald, Jacob Gaucher, and Karsen Dorwart.
Toronto generated five high-danger chances to break the deadlock, but Easton Cown, Bo Groulx, Cedric Paré, William Villeneuve, and Henry Thrun all couldn’t convert.
Just as it looked as though the period would end without a goal, the Marlies struck inside the last two minutes. The trio of Borya Valis, Ryan Tverberg, and Jacob Quillan ran the Phantoms ragged in the offensive zone before Quillan sent a feed from behind the goal line to Valis, who beat the netminder from close range.
Second Period
The middle frame was an unmitigated disaster from Toronto’s perspective. Lehigh was able to cycle the puck with impunity, carrying the play and dominating possession.
Kaplan levelled the game inside two minutes when his point shot took a deflection into the roof of the net past Woll.
Toronto mustered a momentary response through an effort from Valis, but it represented just one of four shots recorded by the Marlies in the middle frame.
Woll made a brilliant glove save on Denver Barkey, although it proved in vain. Lehigh took the lead at the five-minute mark after a continuous cycle in the offensive zone, with the Marlies chasing their tails. After Alex Bump shot high off Woll’s chest, the rebound fell kindly for Lane Pederson to finish off.
It was entirely one-way traffic from that point on, not helped by Groulx’s double minor for high-sticking. Dorwat missed an open net before the Phantoms added a well-deserved insurance tally.
With the Marlies completely gassed due to the long change and large chunks of time spent defending, Toronto inevitably conceded a third. A botched half clearance and attempted line-change resulted in Villenueve being caught out and Alexis Gendron scoring on a feed from Pederson.
That signalled the end of the game for Woll, a little later than intended, with Vyacheslav Peksa entering in relief.
Third Period
Running into penalty trouble prevented the Marlies from mounting an early comeback attempt. Their first shot of the period arrived at the six-minute mark via Cowan, with Aleksei Kolosov making a relatively simple save.
The Marlies struggled to sustain any offensive-zone pressure, and there was only one shift of note in the following eight minutes. A double chance for Travis Boyd and Logan Shaw preceded the puck squirting through the slot to Blake Smith, who blasted his effort wide of the target.
It took a piece of magic from Alex Nylander to bring Toronto within one with 6:16 remaining. He flipped a pass behind him while rounding the net, and the puck landed perfectly for Groulx to finish off in front.
There was plenty of effort from Toronto, but little quality in possession. The three scoring chances to tie the game fell to Matthew Barbolini, Paré, and Vinni Lettieiri, but none were able to find the tying goal, and Lehigh successfully defended the late-game 6v5 situation.
Post Game Notes
– There was little more Joseph Woll could do in his first start of the season. I thought he looked sharp considering the situation, and he made some difficult saves look easy. He will head back with the Marlies to Toronto, but there is no indication yet as to whether he’ll travel with the team to Grand Rapids (Wednesday and Friday games this week).
“[Woll] was only going to play 30 [minutes], but good on him to stay out there for those penalty kills,” said Gruden. “I thought he played extremely well, making some big saves when he needed to.”
– Vyacheslav Peksa was thrown into an unenviable situation, but he did his future prospects no harm. The Russian netminder turned aside all 12 shots faced and gave his team the opportunity to earn something from the game.
– With his sixth goal of the season, Borya Valis is tied for second among all AHL rookies in that category and 11th in points (eight).
– A primary assist on the first goal keeps Jacob Quillan’s point-per-game pace intact (1G/11A).
– Injury updates:
- Matt Benning: lower body, week-to-week
- Luke Haymes: upper body, day-to-day
- Marc Johnstone: upper body, day-to-day
- Michael Pezzetta: upper body, day-to-day
- Landon Sim: lower body, 4 to 6 weeks
- Sam Stevens: upper body, week-to-week
– Saturday’s lineup:
Forwards
Cowan – Shaw – Boyd
Quillan – Groulx – Lettieri
Barbolini – Tverberg – Nylander
Valis – Paré – Johnson
Defensemen
Webber – Thrun
Prokop – Villeneuve
Smith – Chadwick
Goaltenders
Woll
Peksa
