The Toronto Marlies comfortably beat a poor Hamilton Hammers team missing a few key players on Wednesday.
The scoreline stayed close until the third period, when the Marlies finally broke the game open with two quick goals en route to a 5-1 victory.
First Period
Hamilton was left ruing two Grade-A chances in the opening 25 seconds. Liam Foudy was wide open in the slot on both occasions but was rejected by Samuel Hlavaj.
In a period featuring two fights—Michael Pezzetta vs. Hunter Drew and Hayes Hundley vs. Kashawn Aitcheson—Toronto generated more high-danger chances at 5v5: Ryan Tverberg got the ball rolling with an individual effort to get behind the defense, but his five-hole finish after driving across the crease was denied; in his return to the Marlies, Bo Groulx turned provider for Cole McWard, whose initial shot produced a better chance on the rebound, but he whiffed on the puck; Marc Johnstone struck the post with an attempt from the hash marks and then somehow fired wide from the slot on the same shift following a rebound; McWard created the last Grade-A chance of the period, but Landon Sim didn’t bury a glorious slot opportunity.
Hlavaj made three key saves to turn aside Joey Larson (x2) and Drew, and also benefitted from some good fortune when Max Ellis misfired on a 2v1 break with half a net to aim at.
Second Period
The middle frame was a low-event affair in terms of scoring chances and penalties.
Henrik Rybinski took a stretch pass in his stride inside the opening 90 seconds. He sped in behind the defense, skating around Josh Kotai, but sent the puck wide of the post.
The Hammers’ lone chance of the period came via a turnover leading to a 3v1 in transition, but the result was a weak shot that hit the outside of the post.
The opening goal owed a lot to Noah Chadwick’s efforts. The defenseman made an excellent play in the defensive zone to dispossess Daniil Prokhorov before Matthew Barbolini and Reece Johnson quickly transitioned it forward. The latter turned back in the offensive zone to wait for support, picking out Chadwick, who took a couple of sidesteps before firing from the point. Barbolini was on hand to sweep the rebound home at the side of the net.
During 4v4 action late in the period, Brendan Brisson cut through the Hamilton defense and rounded Kotai, but he sent the puck wide at full stretch.
Third Period
The Marlies surged into a 3-0 lead with two goals in the opening five minutes. The first stemmed from winning an elongated puck battle along the left wall just inside the blue line. Rybinski retrieved the puck behind the net after a shot from Brisson and teed the latter up for a second attempt. Brisson’s rebound fell kindly for Borya Valis, who thumped the puck by Kotai.
The third goal displayed everything good about the Marlies’ brand of hockey. Ben Danford’s swift breakout pass picked out Brisson in the neutral zone, where Brisson found Rybinski in stride to drive across the blue line. As Hamilton backtracked, they missed assignments when Rybinski sent a reverse pass to Brisson at the top of the circles. The latter needed no second invitation to shoot and found the net with a nice one-timer.
Quinn Finley gave the Hammers a glimpse of hope at the seven-minute mark when his power-play goal put Hamilton on the board after being overrun. The Hammers may have made the final 10 minutes interesting if they capitalized on a 4v2 rush; Foudy had his third Grade-A chance of the game, but Hlavaj again won the battle.
The backbreaker came three minutes later on a shorthanded goal via Sim, who scored from the slot after excellent work by Pezzetta. Reece Johnson’s empty-net goal sealed the deal, with Tverberg setting it up after yet another strong shift.
Post-Game Notes
The Marlies went 0-for-2 on the power play and 2-for-3 on the penalty kill. They moved to 5-0-0 against Hamilton this season.
At the time of writing, Brendan Brisson (1G/1A) leads the AHL in scoring with 17 points (8G/9A) in 12 games. Henrik Rybinski (2A) produced his best performance since returning from injury. He and Brisson have found chemistry on a new-look second line.
Ryan Tverberg extended his point streak to three games (2G/2A) with an assist.
In a fifth straight win for Samuel Hlavaj, his save percentage improved to .907.
After Friday's practice, head coach Jim Hiller discussed John Tavares’ anticipated return, adjustments to the power-play units, the potential of a Tavares–Paul–Nylander line, Gavin...
