“We have to rebuild our game right now because we’re having a tough time. I’m not going to sit here and point any fingers. I’ll start with myself, but at the end of the day, we have to be quicker in our decision-making. We don’t have the team right now that can spot two goals. When you’re chasing from behind, you press a little bit, and it’s not good enough. It’s not our standard, and we have to find ways to get better.”
– John Gruden
“First of all, I don’t think our game is good enough right now. Everybody knows it in the room. We’re expecting a lot from ourselves, and I think we got ahead of ourselves at the start of the season. The way we’re losing right now… We’re losing battles, we’re not competing until the end, and that’s not us.”
– Bo Groulx
I would quibble with Bo Groulx on the last point. It’s exactly who the Marlies are right now, and it is one of the main reasons they’re slumping. Undoubtedly, the absence of Jacob Quillan and Dennis Hildeby, along with injuries on the backend, has a notable impact. That does not forbid a team from competing hard, nor excuse veteran forwards from performing badly when they are required to step up and lead the team through a minor crisis.
This pathetic school day loss against the hometown Senators on Wednesday would likely have been graded an ‘F’ by the teachers in attendance. I’m going to change up the format with some bullet points to recap this game. It was bad enough to watch live, let alone talk you through it.
It was a somewhat better start by Toronto, but that bar is set very low right now. They still managed to give up a breakaway and a 2v1 inside eight minutes, relying on Artur Akhtyamov to bail them out.
Belleville’s first goal was as a result of a neutral-zone turnover amid a poorly timed line change — just one of many examples recently where Toronto spots an opponent a lead. Oskar Pettersson delivered a brilliant finish from the right circle to punish the Marlies.
The Marlies again spent too much time in the box due to some lazy penalties. Carter Yakemchuk doubled the lead for the Senators on the power play just 90 seconds after the opening goal.
Toronto faced a young goaltender making just his fifth professional start, but they didn’t do enough to unsettle Jackson Parsons in the crease by generating traffic or enough quality-scoring chances. In fact, of the four high-danger chances Toronto generated, two were on a shorthanded rush by Cedric Pare in the middle frame.
The Marlies‘ power play is a hot mess. Zone entries are disjointed, and both units look devoid of confidence and purpose. This is a systems/execution issue rather than personnel. After a poor power play effort midway through the third period, Toronto gifted Belleville a breakaway, which Arthur Kaliyev capitalized on.
Post Game Notes
– Toronto was outshot 39-25 and has given up the first goal in nine of 15 games this year. This season, the Marlies have been outscored 8-13 in the first period and 22-35 through 40 minutes.
– At 14.3%, Toronto’s power play ranks 26th in the league. With six goals in 42 attempts, the Marlies have drawn the fewest penalties in the AHL.
– There were two bright spots in this game. Artur Akhtyamov turned aside 35 of 38 shots and kept the game within reaching distance for 50 minutes. By my count, the Russian goaltender stopped 13 grade-A scoring chances.
– On the currently youthful Marlies blue line, Noah Chadwick is emerging as the pick of the bunch. His offensive numbers were impressive at the junior level and haven’t translated in the pros yet, but I’ve been more impressed by his ability to separate opponents from the puck with big hits or by stalling them on the walls. The 6’4 Saskatchewan native has leaned into the physical side with ease at the pro level and looks composed in possession. The game seems a lot slower for him than his peers at this tentative stage, as he makes breakout plays without much fuss or fanfare.
– Wednesday’s lineup:
Forwards
Barbolini – Haymes – Shaw
Boyd – Paré – Lettieri
Valis – Groulx – Tverberg
Pezetta – Johnstone – Johnson
Defensemen
Webber – Thrun
Prokop – Villeneuve
Smith – Chadwick
Goaltenders
Akhtyamov
Peksa
