The Toronto Marlies relinquished the lead twice and lost the special teams battle on Saturday in Manitoba.
It was a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss as the Marlies left two points behind in Winnipeg across the two-game set.
First Period
The Marlies deserved to lead through 20 minutes. The only disappointment was that they weren’t able to pad their 1-0 lead.
Henrik Rybinski generated the first Grade-A chance with an excellent feed from the right corner. He picked out Marc Johnstone joining the play from the bench, but the finish didn’t match the buildup.
Hard hits and grit along the left boards led to the first goal at the seven-minute mark. Noah Chadwick picked up the loose puck at the point, worked his way between the circles, and beat Thomas Milic with a well-placed shot.
The Marlies carried the play until the midway mark, when they gave up two Grade-A chances in two minutes. Samuel Hlavaj got the best of Danny Zhilkin and Chase Yoder to keep Toronto’s one-goal lead intact. Further tremendous, if somewhat last-ditch, defensive plays from Bo Groulx and Phillippe Myers preserved Toronto’s advantage through 20 minutes.
Second Period
The middle frame was a mess for the Marlies. Toronto invited pressure in waves with poor breakouts and an inability to get the puck deep in the long change period. It was no surprise when Parker Ford tied the game by slotting home a rebound chance inside four minutes.
The Marlies held off the storm by killing consecutive penalties before drawing a power play. That turned into a 5-on-3 opportunity for 46 seconds after Brendan Brisson was fouled when set to score.
Within seconds of Yoder exiting the box, Zhilkin carried the puck through the defensive zone past Toronto’s power play unit. The latter set up the former for a breakaway, and Yoder made no mistake, scoring glove side.
A shorthanded goal against in a tight game was undoubtedly a back-breaker and put Toronto on the back foot. That said, they still recovered to generate two high-quality scoring chances in the final 90 seconds. Neither Miroslav Holinka nor Michael Pezzetta was clinical enough, and the Marlies trailed 2-1 through two periods.
Third Period
Toronto turned the game on its head by scoring twice in 49 seconds. Going to the net paid dividends as Johnstone tipped in a point shot from Ben Meehan and Borya Valis redirected a similar attempt by Myers.
The Marlies held the lead with 18 minutes remaining, but they only held off the Moose for five minutes. Lukas Gustafsson scored on the power play with Hlavaj down and out after making two big saves.
There was little to choose between the teams for the remainder of regulation. Toronto had the better of the scoring chances, but neither Aatu Räty nor Groulx could score from close range. Groulx then took a bad penalty late in the frame, which Toronto partially killed to send the game to overtime.
Overtime
The Marlies killed off the remaining 45 seconds of Groulx’s penalty without allowing a shot. The rest of overtime was played at 4v4, as no whistle was blown before the game-winner.
Hlavaj deserved a better fate after a fantastic save to rob Kevin He after the Moose forward snuck behind Groulx. Ryan Tverberg generated the lone quality scoring chance by himself, but his shot struck the iron after he split the defense.
The game-winner was avoidable and disappointing. Davis Burnside scored wide open on the doorstep to receive Dawson Barteaux’s cross-slot feed.
Post-Game Notes
The Marlies went 0-for-4 on the power play, 3-for-4 on the penalty kill, and also allowed a shorthanded goal. They are now 1-3 in overtime this season.
Noah Chadwick (1G/1A) registered his first multi-point game this season. He is riding a three-game point streak (1-3-4) and has six points in 12 games, an encouraging offensive start for the big sophomore defenseman.
Ben Meehan registered an assist in his Marlies debut. The defenseman had played just seven AHL games before this without scoring a point.
Borya Valis is now up to four goals in his last five games, and he also screened the netminder on Chadwick’s goal without picking up a point on the play.
