For the opening 25 minutes of this game, the Toronto Marlies produced some of their best five-on-five hockey this season.
Organized breakouts, adherence to their structure, and a relentless forecheck allowed the Marlies to dominate offensive-zone time and force the Syracuse Crunch to defend for long stretches.
Two defensive breakdowns later, Toronto allowed two goals in 37 seconds. Two penalties later, the Marlies were down 4-1, and the game was basically curtains.
“I thought we played extremely well in the first [period]. I liked a lot of our 5v5 play. I don’t think we gave them too much. [Syracuse] made big plays when they needed to, and unfortunately, we fell a little bit short. At the end of the day, it’s not good enough in terms of the result, but it’s a long season and I like where we’re trending.”
– John Gruden
First Period
Syracuse generated a single scoring chance of note in an opening frame where Toronto held the clear upper hand. Dennis Hildeby turned aside an effort by Gabriel Szturc at the midway mark in what was a quiet period for the big netminder.
Toronto continually disrupted the Crunch’s attempts to break out of their zone, allowing the Marlies to spend large chunks of time on the front foot. That said, quality chances were at a premium, and Brandon Halverson was only really tested by Luke Haymes and Borya Valis in the first 10 minutes.
A mistake from Halverson allowed Toronto to break the deadlock at the 14-minute mark. His misplaced forward pass was intercepted by Logan Shaw, who teed up Travis Boyd to score with a trademark wrist shot from the high slot.
Second Period
Toronto picked up where they left off in the middle frame, with Borya Valis coming close to doubling the lead. The Marlies also felt hard done by after they looked set to score a second; Cedric Paré was about to seize on a rebound from Bo Groulx’s initial effort, but he was hooked with no call.
From that point on, Toronto imploded.
A defensive breakdown resulted in a wide-open Wojciech Stachowiak on the backside of the play, where the Syracuse forward drove low into the left circle and produced a pinpoint finish off the far post.
The Crunch struck 37 seconds later to take the lead. Toronto lost the faceoff to restart play and, after chasing shadows for a while, they failed to clear the zone. The result was former Marlie Tommy Miller scoring with a point shot through traffic.
Toronto’s penchant for bad penalties cost them two further goals. An offensive-zone tripping penalty by Jacob Quillan during the tail end of a Toronto power play was followed by Noah Chadwick sending the puck up and over the glass.
There was a deal of good fortune for Syracuse on both goals, but Jakob Pelletier and Conor Geekie didn’t care as they built a 4-1 lead.
In need of a spark to get back into the game, Alex Nylander provided one by scoring from the restart. Syracuse won the faceoff, but a misplay by Matteo Pietroniro allowed Nylander to grab possession and score on a drive to the net.
Hildeby kept Toronto in the game with an excellent save on Nick Abruzzese, and the Marlies remained within two thanks to an excellent penalty kill. The momentum firmly swung back toward the Marlies, who finished the period strongly.
With 25 goals in the ECHL last season, Chas Sharpe is a player to keep an eye on when he joins the rush. Syracuse did not, and Sharpe made them pay with a nice shot from the right circle.
Third Period
The Marlies didn’t sustain the type of pressure they exerted in the first period, nor did they generate the same quality of scoring chances to tie the game. Toronto recorded just two shots through the opening 10 minutes, one of which was their best scoring chance of the frame: Matt Benning was the recipient of a cross-slot feed but couldn’t bury the chance from the doorstep.
Hildeby kept Toronto within one goal with four excellent saves on Geekie (x2), Abruzzese, and Boris Katchouk as Syracuse searched for an insurance marker.
The Marlies’ power play was ultimately the difference between taking something from this game and a regulation loss. After wasting one man-advantage, Toronto was presented with a 5-on-3 for 1:58. Luke Haymes registered the only shot on goal, while Borya Valis whiffed on a backdoor play on the only Grade-A chance Toronto generated.
Boris Katchouk potted an empty-net insurance marker for the Crunch with 63 seconds remaining as Toronto wasn’t able to sustain any pressure during 6v5. A late strike by Henry Thrun was only a consolation as the Marlies slumped to a third consecutive defeat by a score of 5-4.
Post Game Notes
– It’s too simplistic to suggest only special teams were the difference, but the statistics are damning. Toronto went 0/6 with the extra skater and gave up two power-play goals on four penalties.
– He has yet to find the net this season, but it’s not through a lack of attempts from promising positions. Luke Haymes recorded a season-high five shots, and all came from the dots or below.
– Jacob Quillan kept his point-per-game pace going with an assist (1G/6A).
– This was the third consecutive multi-point haul (1G/1A) for Alex Nylander, who single-handedly attempted to drag Toronto back into this game after the middle period collapse.
– Injury updates:
- Matthew Barbolini: upper body, day-to-day
- Marc Johnstone: upper body, day-to-day
- Sam Stevens: upper body, week-to-week
- Landon Sim: lower body, indeterminate
- Ryan Tverberg: lower body, day-to-day
– Wednesday’s lineup:
Forwards
Boyd – Kämpf – Shaw
Groulx- Quillan – Nylander
Paré – Haymes – Valis
King – Pezzetta
Defensemen
Webber – Thrun
Chadwick – Benning
Smith – Villeneuve
Goaltenders
Sharpe
Hildeby
Akhtyamov
