Luke Haymes’ late goal earns a point, Toronto Marlies fall in overtime against Rockford

“We didn’t start on time. We knew they were going to be aggressive, and their defensemen would pinch hard. The first 10 minutes they took a two-goal lead, and now we’re playing catchup. We’ve got to be able to dictate the play right from the get-go and not wait for a Danford fight to get us going.”

— Steve Sullivan

The Marlies’ head coach hit the nail on the head in his post-game presser after a 3-2 overtime loss to Rockford. The Marlies were fortunate to trail by just one after getting pushed around in the opening frame. After turning the tables in the second period, Toronto deserved at least a point and easily could have won in regulation.

First Period

Dominant from the opening puck drop, Rockford almost struck 90 seconds in when Artur Akhtyamov made a brilliant right-toe save on Landon Slaggert. An opening goal from the visitors felt inevitable, though.

Philippe Myers took a slashing penalty on Slaggert in the slot after the defenseman turned the puck over in the Rockford zone. On the power play, Gavin Hayes took a speculative shot from below the goal line in the right corner. The puck hit Akhtyamov’s right shoulder and bounced in behind him.

Ben Danford’s crushing hit on Dominic Toninato got the crowd on its feet at the six-minute mark. The resulting odd-man rush for the Marlies was cut short when Taige Harding dropped the gloves with the rookie defenseman. Danford acquitted himself well against a 6’7”, 237-pound opponent, although it’s debatable if he should’ve had to answer for what was a totally clean hockey play. Frustratingly, the officials opted not to penalize Harding for a clear instigator penalty.

The fight brought Toronto to life for at least one shift, where the top line generated good looks for Brendan Brisson and Ryan Tverberg. It was a brief respite as Rockford doubled up at the midway mark. After another extended shift in the defensive zone, Brisson broke his stick when attempting to win a puck battle. Derrick Pouliot then flicked a bit of a strange release past Akhtyamov. As an aside, Brisson was the third Marlies player to break a stick in the opening frame.

When Myers returned to the penalty box for a delay-of-game penalty, a three-goal deficit would have felt insurmountable, but Toronto’s penalty kill stood firm.

The game changed complexion in the final three minutes. After Dakota Joshua made a nice move to work into the high slot, Stanislav Berezhnoy held the resulting shot, but a penalty was drawn after the whistle. On the power play, Logan Shaw scored a one-timer from the left circle to draw Toronto within one.

Second Period

The Marlies’ first and second periods were like chalk and cheese. Akhtyamov denied two Grade-A chances for Pouliot and Toninato, but he faced only four shots in a dominant period for Toronto.

Berezhnoy was excellent between the pipes for Rockford, but the Marlies were ruing their many missed high-danger chances, including Grade-A opportunities for Marc Johnstone (x3), Borya Valis, Luke Haymes, Brisson, and Myers. Haymes and Brisson also put efforts wide of the target from the slot.

Despite outshooting Rockford 16-4 in a period with just two penalties (one apiece), the Marlies could not draw level.

Third Period

The Marlies couldn’t capitalize on an early power play and nearly let the game slip away. Akhtyamov robbed Marek Vanacker on a 2-on-1 and made another stellar save after Noah Chadwick turned it over.

Jamie Engelbert struck the iron with a thunderbolt shot at the eight-minute mark. Engelbert’s neutral-zone hit on Hayes Hundley, which looked suspiciously like knee-on-knee, created the chance.

The Marlies struggled to find their groove as Rockford went into defense-first mode from the midway mark. Hundley set up Matthew Barbolini in the slot with five minutes remaining; the chance wasn’t converted, but it sparked Toronto into carrying the play more.

That pressure led to a wild delay-of-game penalty taken by Cavan Fitzgerald. With six attackers on the ice, Toronto won consecutive faceoffs as they set up camp in the Rockford zone. Off the second one, a good pass from Brisson found Haymes, who got to the net quickly and presented his stick on the ice for a backdoor tap-in with 29 seconds left, earning the Marlies a deserved point.

Overtime

The extra frame lasted less than a minute. Ben Danford took the opportunity to change, which would’ve been fine, but Logan Shaw’s bad gamble at the blue line led to a 2-on-0. Racing off the bench, Vinny Borgesi tried to intervene but couldn’t get there in time to stop Slaggert from notching the game-winner.

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Post-Game Notes

• The Marlies went 2-for-4 on the power play, 2-for-3 on the penalty kill, and outshot Rockford 36-18.
• Brendan Brisson extended his point streak to seven games (7G/6A) with two primary assists. He’s up to 13 points in eight games.
• In the third game of his conditioning stint, Dakota Joshua took a big leap forward. This was a much-improved performance. Joshua was physical in the dirty areas and should have potted at least once.
• Matthew Barbolini made his season debut (he remains on a PTO). He’s been out since an injury cut short his impact in last year’s playoff campaign. Barbolini got stronger as the game continued, finding some chemistry with Aatu Räty.
• It’s early in the season, but Luke Haymes has clearly taken a step forward. The tying marker was his third goal of the season and seventh point in eight games. He’s driving the line alongside two physical wingers. “
• Vinny Borgesi deserves a shoutout for his play quarterbacking PP1. If William Villeneuve were healthy, that opportunity would not be available, but he is taking advantage of it. Borgesi registered an assist on the first goal.
• He would want the first goal back, but otherwise, this was a strong performance by Artur Akhtyamov. He made key saves to keep the game within one, despite not seeing the puck for extended periods of time. “He was a little rusty to start off,” said Sullivan. “He has been on a lot of planes and has been away from us a little bit. He hasn’t had a lot of practice time. But I thought he settled in and made some big saves when we needed it down the stretch. We gave up some odd-man rushes and grade-A scoring chances, and he kept it at a one-goal deficit for us and gave us a chance to tie it up.”

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Game Highlights: IceHogs 3 vs. Marlies 2 (OT)