“If we want to become the elite team that we think we can be with the group that we have, we just can’t play that way. We have to learn from it, sooner rather than later. A lot of credit to our guys to be able to come back like that and get four important points against a team that’s playing desperate.”
– John Gruden
The two points earned were undoubtedly more important than the calibre of performance in the Toronto Marlies‘ 5-4 victory over Iowa on Saturday. The process was far from satisfactory, as the Marlies handed the Wild a two-goal first-period lead, one that a stronger opponent would likely have made Toronto pay for. The Marlies‘ response in the middle frame was emphatic, but the slow starts will come back to kick this team in the butt later in the season if the trend continues.
First Period
The Marlies got off to a perfect start, drawing a penalty inside two minutes and taking less than 30 seconds to open the scoring. Alex Nylander loves to shoot from the left circle, but on this occasion, he delivered a perfect feed to Borya Valis to finish from the doorstep.
What should have been the platform for another comfortable win turned into a nightmare as Iowa struck three times in four minutes. Carson Lambos found the roof of the net with a rising point shot through traffic. Vyacheslav Peksa will likely be disappointed with his effort on the goal, although he wasn’t solely to blame; Toronto lost battles below the goal line and along the walls despite outnumbering Iowa in the lead-up.
The Marlies‘ penalty kill then gave up a goal eight seconds into Iowa’s first power play. Peksa denied Jean-Luc Foudy, but the rebound fell to a wide-open Caedan Bankier, who simply couldn’t miss.
The third Iowa goal was the worst of the bunch. Blake Smith’s bungled zone clearance allowed Dylan Gambrell to send the puck down low to a teammate, where Gerry Mayhew somehow redirected the puck through the Toronto netminder at his near post.
The remainder of the period was fairly incident-free as Iowa comfortably held the two-goal advantage and Toronto offered little pushback. The Wild really should have made it a 4-1 game with seven minutes remaining when the Marlies gave up a breakaway. Ryan Sandelin couldn’t take advantage, smashing his shot off the far post.
Second Period
John Gruden had seen enough. Artur Akhtyamov replaced Peksa between the pipes, and the Marlies struck with another early power-play goal. Borya Valis tipped home a heavy point shot from William Villenueve to draw Toronto within one.
Gruden sent out his first line to restart the game and must have been frustrated to see them buried in the defensive zone due to cute low-percentage plays.
Iowa earned a power play, but it was negated, and Toronto turned the tide during four-on-four action and a shortened power play of its own. Luke Haymes and Nylander went close to netting a tying goal before the top line delivered some redemption back at five-on-five.
Vinni Lettieri seized on a flubbed zone exit attempt by Foudy and immediately looked to pick out Shaw. The floated pass didn’t quite connect, but on the second attempt, Lettieri rounded the net and delivered the puck on a plate for Toronto’s captain to score from the blue paint.
Dawson Mercer robbed Reese Johnson as Toronto’s fourth line generated an odd-man rush, and the Marlies looked the likelier team to surge into the lead. From an offensive-zone faceoff draw, Toronto’s first line, plus Smith and Henry Thrun, moved the puck around well before drawing a delayed penalty. The Marlies weren’t interested in starting the power play as Lettieri picked out Shaw in the high slot to score with a trademark one-timer from one knee.
A high-sticking infraction on Valis meant Toronto finished the period with the man advantage. They made use of it by scoring unconventionally with a single second remaining. The puck fell to Haymes along the left wall below the faceoff dot, where the rookie wired a shot over Mercer’s shoulder into the far corner of the net.
Third Period
Toronto did not heed the lessons from the previous game, as they almost gave up another third-period lead. All three shots in the opening 11 minutes were Iowa’s, although their prospects of climbing out of a two-goal hole appeared slim.
The first line was guilty of not getting the puck deep behind Iowa’s defense with under five minutes remaining. A mistimed pass resulted in a transition attack for the Wild. From below the goal line, Elliot Desnoyers’ pass intended for Foudy was intercepted by Smith. The rookie defenceman fumbled it, playing the puck off his skate and straight to Foudy in the slot. Akhtyamov saved the first shot only for Olausson to bury the rebound.
Iowa generated one chance to tie the game at 5-5. With 77 seconds remaining, Mayhew was stopped by a shoulder save from Akhtyamov after escaping low in the right circle. It was the last shot of the game, as the Marlies again hung on by the narrowest of margins to defeat Iowa.
Post Game Notes
– The Marlies swept the regular season series against the Iowa Wild with four regulation victories. The special teams were the difference this time, as the Marlies went 3-for-6 on the power play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill.
– Borya Valis fully deserves his spot on PP2 and rewarded the team with a pair of goals. He has six points (3G/3A) in 10 games since the Christmas break.
“Any good goal-scorer will tell you that you need to be in those five-foot areas by the net, where the puck is going to go,” said Gruden. “When [Valis] is in those areas, he now has four two-goal games. Obviously, he is a streaky scorer, but it is still a confidence builder for him. He has been working on some things that will help him be a better pro.”
– With two assists, Noah Chadwick has registered four points in his last four games (1G/3A). He’s third among all Marlies defensemen in scoring this season (2G/9A).
– Artur Akhtyamov turned aside 14 of 15 shots in relief.
– The Marlies are now 21-15-1-2 this season. They head into a three-in-three weekend on the road against Atlantic Division opponents, needing to pick up a minimum of four points. Springfield and Hartford occupy the two bottom places in the division, while Providence is tied for the divisional lead.
– Saturday’s lineup:
Forwards
Groulx – Shaw – Lettieri
Nylander – Paré – Valis
Tverberg – Haymes – Boyd
Barbolini – Johnstone – Johnson
Defensemen
Rifai – Chadwick
Smith – Thrun
Prokop – Villeneuve
Goalies
Peksa
Akhtyamov
