Toronto Marlies battle early rust offensively, fall to opening night defeat in Rochester

The Toronto Marlies’ inability to convert offensively after dominating the opening frame ultimately cost them game one of the new season. The Marlies then took too many penalties in the second period, and the Rochester Americans built a decisive lead.

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First Period

The Marlies drew three consecutive penalties inside the opening 12 minutes but didn’t apply nearly enough stress on the Amerks. Aside from a couple of whacks at a loose puck in the crease and two chances for Logan Shaw, the Marlies looked the part of a team shaking off early-season rust as Rochester killed off all three penalties, including a 5-on-3. The Marlies missed the boat on a great opportunity to build an early lead/momentum.

Rochester came closest to breaking the deadlock late in the period when Matteo Costantini seized on a turnover and fired against the grain from the slot, only to strike the post.

Assessed a penalty on the play, Toronto nearly scored shorthanded. In a 2-on-2 situation, Henrik Rybinski beat a defender, but the finish didn’t match the initial play as Matthew Villalta made a comfortable save.

Second Period

Three consecutive penalties in the opening nine minutes of the middle frame put Toronto on the back foot, but Samuel Hlavaj kept Rochester at bay with some spectacular stops. A scorpion save on Trevor Kuntar was followed by a brilliant post-to-post stop to rob Riley Fiddler-Schultz on a 2-on-0.

Hlavaj also produced a double save to deny Fiddler-Schultz, but his efforts ultimately proved in vain. Rochester broke through at the midway point, capitalizing on sloppy penalty killing to set up a tap-in for Fiddler-Schultz.

The Marlies nearly fell further behind on their first power play of the period. Rochester struck iron on a shorthanded rush and, seconds later, drew a penalty to negate the man advantage.

Liam Valente thought he doubled the lead with five minutes remaining. Hlavaj made a tumbling save and almost kicked the puck into his own net on the follow-through. The officials waved off the potential goal, prompting the first coach’s challenge in Marlies history.

Rochester thought it was worth the gamble, but the video review ruled in Toronto’s favour. On the resulting power play, the Marlies were outworked by a hungrier penalty kill, and the chance to swing the momentum passed them by.

The Amerks struck with 1:09 remaining to take a deserved 2-0 lead. After Rochester seized on a turnover, Gavin McCarthy’s blast from the top of the right circle was deflected in by Jake Richard.

Third Period

The Marlies threatened to mount a comeback, but a lack of finish snuffed out any chance. Marc Johnstone, Michael Pezzetta, Borya Valis, and Ryan Tverberg all failed to convert chances from point-blank range.

Rochester sealed the victory with seven minutes remaining when Sheary scored directly off a faceoff win by Michael Peca.

The Marlies did at least spoil Villalta’s shutout. Rybinski’s power-play goal was little more than consolation as the Calder Cup champions began their title defense with a road defeat.

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Post-Game Notes

• The Marlies have faced Rochester in four of their last five season openers and have bizarrely lost all four.
• Samuel Hlavaj produced some stellar saves in his debut. He had some shaky moments, but overall, it was a positive start to his Marlies career.
• Ben Danford played a really solid game alongside Marshall Rifai. The rookie was Toronto’s most effective defenseman on both sides of the puck. He showed poise offensively and generated two Grade-A scoring chances. It might be worth giving him some reps on the power play at some point this season; not that he’s likely to be a real option there at the NHL level, but watching his offensive game hints at more than what appears on the surface in terms of his historical production, and the touches can only help his offensive development.
• Among the forwards, Henrik Rybinski made a strong impression in his debut. He drove play on the third line, was strong along the walls, and consistently made high-percentage plays. His line combined for 10 shots.

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Game Highlights: Americans 3 vs. Marlies 1

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