The first period as back and forth. The Marlies put a lot of pressure on to start, and Rochester rebounded by throwing it right back at them. So on, and socr forth, until Zack Kassian had a prime breakaway chance. Ben Scrivens was equal to it, flashing the leather, but a whistle later, the top prospect had another opportunity and caught Big Ben looking at the 6 minute mark. The back and forth continued some more, until Derek Whitmore scored one of the weaker goals I’ve seen pass by Scrivens this month to widen the gap. The Marlies wouldn’t come out of the period empty handed, though – Mike Zigomanis showed his inner baseball player and took a mid air puck from Ryan Hamilton to bring the team within one.

The second featured nothing of significance. Toronto outshot Rochester, but no goals were scored and no penalties were taken by either team. The third looked like much of the same, but then the penalties finally trickled in for the first time of the game.  First it was Colborne for tripping, which was killed. Then we saw one of the odder sequences I’ve seen. Simon Gysbers dropped a massive hit, to the pleasure of the crowd. One problem, though – it was too the head. At the same time, Phil Varone earned himself a slashing call, and for complaining about Gysbers’ hit, Matt Frattin earned an unsportsmanlike call. Late in the game, the Marlies got their only powerplay courtesy of a Paul Sczechura hit, but were unsuccessful in doing anything with it. With little time left, the Marlies pulled Scrivens for the extra attacker, but the score would remain the same and the Marlies took the 2-1 loss.

Other Notes

Ben Scrivens looked decent, minus the second goal. 25 saves on 27 shots is nothing to sniff at, which goes without saying. It’s just a shame he couldn’t make the one that made the difference.

David Leggio must hate the Marlies, because he’s been out of his mind incredible the last two times he’s faced them. I have no idea how he wasn’t a star tonight, because he should’ve been first.

Nicolas Deschamps is getting better and better at his physicality by the game. That was one of his biggest flaws in his time with Syracuse, so that’s huge.

Jesse Blacker had a couple of huge efforts, and was probably the best defenceman on the ice tonight.

On top of his goal, Mike Zigomanis generally impressed. His hand eye for whatever reason today was on another level, and generally, he made the right plays.

Korbinian Holzer and Juraj Mikus were both -2′s. An unfortunate night for both of them. Josh Engel and Simon Gysbers, on the other hand, were +1′s.

Five shots for Philippe Dupuis. This guy wants a goal badly, but is yet to get a single one as a member of the Leafs organization.

The special teams were unneeded in the first two periods. The third saw solid penalty killing and a weak powerplay. This is a recording.

The attendance was a very impressive 7133. We’ll see if that keeps up, or if its a product of a promotion. It’d be nice to see some trickle from the outdoor game in terms of promotion, though.

Appologies for the lack of article yesterday, by the way. Long day which involved me missing the game.

It took about two minutes for the Marlies to take their first shot. Thankfully, it was a good one. Matt Frattin, courtesy a setup by Will Acton, found the back of the net to give the team an early lead. Within seconds, Greg Scott would find his way into the penalty box. Was that a problem? Absolutely not. Ryan Hamilton found Mike Zigomanis who just 20 seconds later, gave the Marlies an insurance marker. The penalty kill wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though, as Brad Malone brought the Monsters within one. The period simmered down for a little while at this point, but Toronto wasn’t finished. With four minutes to go, Joe Colborne showed some life and scored his 14th goal of the season. Obviously not a fan of two goal leads, Adrian Foster responded with a goal of his own just 39 seconds later. As if the period needed any more excitement, Frattin scored his second of the night just a minute later (which resulted in a goaltending change for the Monsters) and to close things off, Jerry D’Amigo scored his 10th of the year, the Marlies’ second shorthanded tally of the night.

The second period was nowhere near as interesting. Kyle Neuber fought Scott Langdon, and pulled a Darcy Tucker by getting a few swings in with Langdon’s helmet. The third was a chippy one, as you’d expect from two teams that clearly didn’t like each other. Before most of the crazy, though, we saw a Will Acton goal, which was a rarity in the past but has become more frequent as of late. Back to the crazy, though. There were three notable events. First, a fight between Acton and former Marlies defenceman Mike Brennan. Can’t say this went in Will’s favour. Secondly, Patrick Bordeleau and Kelsey Wilson had an urge to drop the gloves. It didn’t happen, though – the referees broke it up. Both got misconducts for trying to make it happen after. Third and finally, Hugh Jessiman found it to be a smart idea to start sucker punching Korbinian Holzer towards the end of the game. The refs broke it up before Holzer could get a swing, but his response was pointless – a point to the scoreboard, which stayed at 6-2 as the final buzzer sounded.

Priceless. (s/o to hoobadoo on Tumblr for the gifs)

Other Notes

Ben Scrivens looked really good after a pair of goals allowed in the first period. I mean, 22 saves in 24 shots isn’t particularly mind blowing, but it was more than enough to get the job done.

Joe Colborne continuing to start to show signs of life for the first time in a while. If it lasts, it would be great to see some vintage Joe. And by vintage Joe, I mean 2 months ago Joe, though it feels like forever.

Will Acton with the Gordie Howe hat trick tonight. Considering that was his third pro goal and first pro fight, I don’t think anyone was expecting this.

Nicolas Deschamps has 7 points in his last 6. I’m liking this trade more and more by the hour, let alone day.

The powerplay was 0/4, and the penalty kill 2/3. Not their best night statistically, but when you win 6-2 and 2 of your goals are shorthanded, those numbers really don’t matter.

The next game is tomorrow against the Hamilton Bulldogs. Basically, they’re the same Hamilton Bulldogs the Marlies faced last week. There is absolutely no point boring you with the same information, so just check out the game tomorrow night or look for my tweets, as always.

Lake Erie again. Hamilton again. Rochester again. Look, I know there’s an emphasis on playing against your divisional opponents, but come on. If you’re wondering why my previews look more and more “meh, whatever, gotta get something up” – it’s because, no word of lie, 52 out of 76 games are against one of Hamilton, Lake Erie, Rochester, Grand Rapids, St. John’s, or Abbotsford. That’s not even an exaggeration. After that, they play a whopping 12 other teams in the league for the other 24 games, in a home and home in all cases. Check this out:

If you’re cool (and have a Tumblr0, you’ll click the pic, and reblog it?

I get that there’s an emphasis on playing your division…but half the games? Throw in Abbotsford, who has 4 against the Marlies this year and aren’t in the division any more. Even worse, lets look at the IceCaps. Yes, I know the Marlies used to play in St. Johns, but that was a really cool home and home story. Not a “Hey, they’re not in the division, they’re not even in the conference, and the distance of this flight is unbearable. Lets play them eight times! scenario. I understand that matchups breed rivalries, but can the matchups be ones that actually make sense? If the Marlies have to face a team that plays out of the conference eight times a year, can it be Binghamton or Providence? AKA, teams who’s parent clubs are in the Leafs division?

Maybe I’m just crazy – but I like my matchups to make sense. If it was up to me, The Marlies would face every team in the league at least once (preferably home-and-home), then divide the rest of the games accordingly along the Division, Binghamton, and Providence. I’d also try to line up double games on weekends – 3PM AHL, 7PM NHL, with the matching parent club. I like how the schedule leans towards weekends, but I just feel team choices could be better selected.

Though I will change one thing about that weekend statement – Ryan Hamilton probably kind of hates whoever made this schedule right now. He has Lake Erie tonight, Hamilton tomorrow, Rochester Friday, Skills Competition on Saturday, and the All Star Game on Sunday. I wonder if this is why Colborne dropped out..

As I say in the title, the Toronto Marlies look like the kid who doesn’t have a lot of friends, so he goes to his closest ones and bugs them non-stop to hang out, which eventually leads to both sides quickly getting irritated with each other. Which is great for some of those who are watching it all go down from the sidelines, but even the spectators get bored of it.

That said, you’re still here hoping to hear a bit about tonight’s game? If you insist…

Thursday, @ Lake Erie – The Monsters have been a team that are on a massive down swing as of late. Around the time of the last wave of games the Marlies had against them, Lake Erie looked to be the only remotely significant threat for the North Division. This time around? They’re dead last, with a 19-21-2-1 record, including a weak 3-6-1-0 in their past 10. You can’t totally discount them though, seeing how they step up against the Marlies, but it’s not the matchup it was even weeks ago. Young gun defenceman Tyson Barrie leads the team in points, with 26 in 43 games. Hugh “Huge Speciman” Jessiman has the goal scoring crow, with 20, but matches that up with just 5 assists. Marlies killer David Van Der Gulik has been up with the Avalanche for the past 17 games, so he won’t be in site. Closer to literal Marlies killer Patrick Bordeleau, who ended Matt Lashoff’s season, will likely play. Cedrick Desjardins, who’s been spectacular since returning from injury, is my prediction for the starting goaltender. Desjardins is 8-5-1, with a mindblowing 0.941 save percentage and 1.85 goals against average.

On the Marlies end of things, the team will look to keep the same lineup that won 7-2 to the Bulldogs on Saturday. This should include Ben Scrivens starting in net, seeing as its been over half a week since the last game played.  The second line of Hamilton – Zigomanis – Deschamps could be an interesting one to watch – the wheels on the wing and playmaking ability of Zigomanis may do well to get past a Monsters team that doesn’t have a ton of foot speed. The Marlies are certainly hoping this is the case, because the current 2-4 record against a team on the opposite end of the division standings is confusing, to say the least.

The game is at 7:00, and is on the road. AHL live will have the video feed, an AM 640 the audio. You can keep up with my twitter too if text and/or not paying for video is your thing.

The game started with arguably the most action packed first 30 seconds the league has ever seen. Twenty seven second was all it took for the Bulldogs to open the coring, with Dany Masse leading the way for Hamilton. The Marlies would have no part of this result, deeming it much too quick of a start. Kelsey Wilson concluded that this was a matter that would be best resolved with fisticuffs, and Zack Fitzgerald agreed. Honetly, it ws one of the better fights I’ve seen live, the two trading several strong punches until it was broken up. Oh, and I forgot to mention, this was just one second later. The Marlies would take control of the game from there. Five minute slater, Mike Zigomanis tied the game for Toronto, courtesy of Ryan Hamilton and Nicolas Deschamps. That wouldn’t be all. Three minutes later, Greg Scott turned that trail-come-tie to a tie-come-lead, with Jerry D’Amigo and Philippe Dupuis getting assists.  Continuing the momentum Drew Paris gave the crowd an uncharactaristic bullet to marvel at, giving the Marlies a 3-1 lead, and awarding multi-point games to Zigomanis and Dechamps. Matt Frattin slowed the momentum down with the only minor penalty of the period, followed by another scrap, this time between Koribinan Holzer and Aaron Palushaj. Holzer got some punches in, but was tripped by Palushaj shortly after.

The second offered more traditional action. Marcel Mueller extended the Marlies lead by scoring his 10th of the year, unassisted, on a goal that bordered between a snipe and a bad goaltending effort. Hamilton would finally return the favour though, with Louis Leblanc socring the goal of the game, deking out Scrivens handily. Gabriel Dumont and Kesley Wilson tradeded minors to round out the period, but that’s all the major action we would see for the second.

The third was a different story all together, with nothing happening for the first half. The teams switch sides with 9 minute to go to the tune of a crowd-driven Sweet Caroline, and that’s when the pressure that Toronto had early in the game came back. First came a Joe Colborne snipe assisted by Matt Frattin and Jerry D’Amigo. Two minutes later, and this time it was Dechamps with his first goal but third point of the game, with Jesse Blacker and Philippe Dupuis getting helpers. To close out the scoring, Greg Scott scored his second of the game, giving Dupuis and D’Amigo their third assists of the night. To close things up, Ian Schultz tried to get his team’s dignity back by fighting Kyle Neuber. Bad idea, as Neuber made him very familiar with his fist in the final minute of the game. A few seconds of pointless skating occured, and the blowout ended as a 7-2 victory.

Other Notes

Ben Scrivens looked shaky to start, and didn’t solidify much after the fact, but looked pretty decent statistically, and got the Marlies what they were looking for, a win.

Nicolas Deschamps looked fantsatic today with two assists, but made things even better with a goal. He was good without the puckk as well, and the best player on either team today.

Don’t look now, but Philippe Dupuis has 5 assists in 3 games. Amazing for a guy who until that point hadn’t had a tallyof any kind in the Leafs organization.

Neither team was effective on the powerplay, the Marlies going 0/1 and the Bulldogs 0/3. Works out fine for Toronto.

The attendance was a solid-ish 20,565. Overall, a success, but could’ve been better, but a success with all things considered. I’m going to talk off-ice bits to more detail in my next article.

The ice is ready; several practices have been played on the surface, the public got a chance to skate on it, some mens leaguers have played some casual games, and we even saw an Alumni Game go down tonight between former Leafs and Habs. The weather has complied, with Southern Ontario finally loooking like it’s deserving of winter, a month in to the season. Needless to say – the conditions for tomorrow are fantastic.

Looking to wards the game, I have the following questions..

How many are going to show up? As much as I’d like to believe we’re going to see something close to capacity, the push to sell tickets has bordered on desperation by both Bulldogs and Marlies camps. I have a good feeling that we’ll see a sizeable crowd, but out of 29,600 people, I’d be pleasantly surprised if it tipped over 25,000. Though lets be real – both teams have been near the bottom of the attendance charts all season, and special event be damned, these tickets were expensive for AHL hockey. So reasonably, even selling half of the seats would be a victory to me – which is something I’m pretty certain they’ve done at this point.

Next up, I really want to see how this jersey looks tomorrow. I mean, its not going to be drastically different, but there has to be some sort of edge to it, right? Personally, I wouldn’t be shocked if they just ripped the logo off a Leafs 3rd and put the Marlies one on, seeing as it’s a one off. But we’ll see soon enough.

Looking towards the actual game – will there actually be a focus on winning? Dallas Eakins, when talking to the Canadian Press, certainly seemed to give that vibe, making it evident that a win was priority one. His wordless actions gave that hint too, with practices leading to the game being intense and not casual skate-arounds on the outdoor ice.

It’s a game that the team needs to win, that’s for sure. The Marlies recent games against against the Bulldogs have been disappointments, including their loss on Sunday. Suddenly, Toronto sees themselves just 6 points ahead of Hamilton despite two extra games played, so holding them back is big not just to make a statement for future matchups, but to maintain that division lead.

Likely starting in net for Toronto is Ben Scrivens. No significant changes in the roster, unless they come in the morning. Hamilton’s rosters appear to be held close to their chest as well. As a cheat sheet, I’ll suggest the same stuff as I do every time the Marlies face the Bulldogs, just because it doesn’t change much. Look for Aaron Palushaj to pick up points, Andreas Engqvist to score some goals, Louis Leblanc and Alexander Avtsin if you want to see some a rookie presence, and Zack Fitzgerald if you’re hoping for faces to be punched.

Stay glued to twitter! I’m going to be at Ivor Wynne early giving updates as I get them, including during the game, as always.

The Above Picture – Is Jerry D’Amigo and Greg Scott, practicing at Ivor Wynne Stadium this morning. Picture courtesy of @TrevorVanK.

I Missed A Game – The reason for no post-game on Sunday? I missed the game. My youngest cousin had her baptism that day, and I got home long after the game due to the reception afterwards. I didn’t want to report on a game I hadn’t seen.

Colton Orr’s Injury – Turns out that Orr has torn his MCL, and will be out for between 1 and 2 months. It’s kinda sad when you think about it – this is a guy who almost had his career ended by a concussion, had his NHL role diminished by the evolution of the game, and now gets injured shortly after being sent down. Yes, I’ll hear the “but he’s got money!!!” reply, but I guarantee you he’d trade it for this roller coaster of a year to have been avoided. Here’s hoping he recovers soon. Not just from a feeling bad for him standpoint, but from a quality of play standpoint too. Orr was impressive in his few games with the team, throwing hits that the AHL simply wasn’t ready for, while being intimidating enough to get zero retaliation offered. A huge upgrade on Kyle Neuber, who takes this role usually, but with much more distracting results.

Jussi Rynnas’ Injury – After taking a high shot to the mask early in the mini road trip, we’ve seen none of Jussi Rynnas since. The word is that he’s suffering concussion-like symptoms and that the Marlies are taking their time with them. This makes sense, when you think about it – Ben Scrivens seems to be back in gear, and Mark Owuya looks good as well. As long as there’s no need to throw Jussi in, I’d avoid it at all costs just to play it safe. Another shame of an injury, though – Rynnas finally had a hot streak going for the first time in a while. We’ll see if he’s the same coming back. History would indicate to not count on it though.

The Gardiner Shuffle – Just as soon as he was called up, Jake Gardiner was sent back down, and played with the Leafs in their next game. I guess his time down here was just to shake off the cobwebs after being in the press box for a few games. He looked good too – the fact he was playing with liberties taken instead of trying to impress with more typical, generic play.

Dallas Eakins, All Star – Eakins will be joining Todd Nelson of the Oklahoma City Barons in coaching the Western Conference All Star Team. Good to see. While Leafs fans who don’t pay attention to the Marlies overrate him a bit too much due to “that commercial” and the praise he gets from Leafs management, he’s still a stellar coach on the rise and deserves the credit.

Outdoor Threads – The Hamilton Bulldogs unveiled special jerseys for Saturday’s outdoor game yesterday that were the definition of a fauxback, leaving people wondering if the Marlies were going to release a jersey of their own. The official twitter today confirmed that they’ll be wearing special jerseys for the event, but unlike the Bulldogs, won’t be selling replicas to fans. Instead, if you want to pick one of these up, you have to bid on the charity auctions they’ll be having for game worn jerseys. To add a bit of inside info for you guys, after asking around, I found out that the jerseys don’t really have much of a significant change to them. I don’t know the exact definition of what that means, but the point is that while unique, they won’t really stand out as such. I guess we’ll see what that means on Saturday?

Meet Me At The Marlies – The third Meet Me At The Marlies event of the year now has a date to it! If you have nothing better to do for the February 25th game, I suggest that you check this out! For those who don’t know, Meet Me At The Marlies is an event run by the always awesome @KungPowLau (I help with it as well – but she puts in the majority of the effort, so give her all the credit). For $60, you get to sit with about 30 other Marlies and Leafs fans in a private box, get free food and snacks, a swag bag full of various Marlies goodies (often worth more than the $60 itself). As well, you get to meet a player after the game. This is separate from the Marlies Alley autograph signing player of the night, and often there’s still time to get in that line too. Also included is the opportunity to win some pretty awesome contests – last events grand prizes were a pair of tickets to the outdoor game, and a St. Johns Maple Leafs J-F Racine game worn jersey – and that wasn’t even one of the best events in terms of prizes! We try to get a special guest in during the intermissions as well – last event saw Mark Owuya stop in for the second half of the game (healthy scratch that night), and the one before that had Brian Burke drop in for the first intermission. If this sounds like something that interests you, click this half of the sentance for the Facebook event page with all the details.

Preview for Saturday’s game coming tomorrow!

Gardiner has been touted by many to be a fantastic two way defenceman for the team, and for good reason. He’s extremely mobile (one of the best skaters I’ve seen on the Leafs defensive core in a very long time), is sound positionally, and has shown plenty of offensive potential. The key word there is potential. While he will no doubt me a significant defenceman in the long term plans of the organization in the future, he’s currently at a “decent” level. I mean, better than Keith Aulie, who remains up, but at this point its known that he’s up on the Leafs entirely because Dion Phaneuf is the only person on any of the organization’s teams that can make him look competent this season.

As much as Leafs fans may be worried about this move, the reality is that Gardiner wasn’t supposed to make the team out of camp, but did any way. I ‘d be incredibly happy he made it to this point in the season. But now, with the entire core relatively healthy (still waiting on John-Michael Liles but he could be back soon), as well as the bouncing back of Mike Komisarek and Cody Franson occuring, there isn’t a ton of place for him right now. On the other hand, playing on the Marlies would give him significant minutes, filling a void left by Matt Lashoff’s injury in search for a significant offensive defenceman.

Gardiner played a short stint with the Marlies last season, earning 3 points in 10 games. Korbinian Holzer is expected to yet again be the #7 fill in to get called up by the Leafs to sit in the press box and make them feel less worried without playing games.

Jake will be wearing #19 while down here. It’s a weird number for a defenceman, but when you consider it was his University of Wisconsin number, and that he started his career there as a forward, it makes more sense. He wore 2 in his time with the team last year due to the fact Luca Caputi already had 19 taken.

(Note: At the moment, this is unconfirmed by the team. It’s legit, though)

UPDATE: Confirmed, Gardiner is now on the Marlies roster. While we’re here…

The Marlies face the Hamilton Bulldogs tomorrow. Odds are, we’ll see the previously mentioned Gardiner play his first game in the AHL this year.

Hamilton is looking progressively better as they push through the sesaon – at the half way point, they’re now tied for 3rd in the North Division, albeit with Grand Rapids having a game in hand. 16-16-1-4 is much better than being 2nd last in the league, where they were a few matchups ago. The team is 6-3-0-1 in their past 10, though two of those three regulation losses come in their last two games.

Leading the way for the Bulldogs this season is 21 year old Aaron Palushaj. In 22 games, the right winger has 11 goals and 14 assits, putting him at above a point per game pace. Behind him is goal socring and plus minus leader (on a team with just 6 players above even plus minus, these two combine for +18) Andreas Engqvist. Engqvist has broken out this year, with 12 goals and 9 assists in 22 games, and a +11 rating. Zack Fitzgerald will likely look to rough things up with his 139 penalty minutes. In net, Nathan Lawson is the starter, but Robert Mayer has had two consecutive spectacular games against Toronto and will likely start. In 17 games, Mayer is 6-7-1, has a GAA of 3.03, and a save percentage of 0.907%.

I’d expect Mark Owuya to get the start tomorrow. Rynnas is still questionable, and Scrivens has blown his last two games against the Bulldogs.

What’s more important? The game itself, a battle of the first and second placed teams in the North Division. A Marlies win would further seperate the gap, necessary due to the games in hand the team has. Rochester winning would put them within striking distance with three less games played. So, white not quite in “must win” territory, this was still a big game for the Marlies. While it wasn’t in the most standings-friendly way, Toronto took advantage and made the best of it, winning 2-1 in Overtime.

The game started with a first period that was typical of these two teams when they face each other, in the sense that nothing of significance happened whatsoever. Jesse Blacker and Mike Zigomanis both went to the box for hooks, along with the Marlies getting a powerplay attempt of their own (which lasted a whopping 50 seconds thanks to the penalty) courtesty of a boarding call against Jonathan Parker. Nothing came out of any of that, and the teams combined for just 15 shots in the first period.

The normally middle frame was more entertaining. Matt Caruana opened up the scoring for Toronto five minutes into the period, finishing off a fantastic play sparkplugged by Simon Gysbers, and further set up by Zigomanis. Normally, this is the part where I’d say “the game was completely stale until another goal happened”, but Kyle Neuber snapped out of his contributing forward mode he’s had recently and fought Joe Finley, a rivalry that would continue thoughout the game without penalties, but plenty of shoving. In the one actual scrap, Finley would have the edge. Back to the game, Greg Scott headed to the box for a trip, and on that penalty kill, Travis Turnbull striked to tie the game for Rochester.

The third period was controlled by the Marlies, who took 18 shots, many of them of goal-caliber quality. David Leggio, who ended the game with 39 saves, stole the show all game, but particularly in the final frame of regulation. The only significant additions to the stat sheet were courtesy of Korbinian Holzer and Marcus Foligno, who each got minor penalties for interference.

Overtime started with more Marlies momentum, but not in an overpowering way. They needed something to tim them over the edge, and Marcus Foligno gave it to them, in the form of his second penalty box visit of the night, this time for tripping. With their third powerplay opportunity of the night, Toronto would make no mistake. Nicolas Deschamps found Mike Zigomanis, who gave Matt Frattin room to score a typical Frattin goal to win the game (read: a pure snipe).

Game’s over right? Nope. Well, yes, but there’s a few seconds left to talk about. Foligno wasn’t pleased with being the man in the box for that powerplay goal, and as such took out his emotions after the game was done, with a nasty slash that earned him a 10 minute misconduct and no doubt at least a consideration of suspension by the league. This caused a lot of pushing and shoving. Neuber and Finley were considering a round 2, but that didn’t happen. Of all people, Joe Colborne was the one who took action, fighting T.J. Brennan. The refs broke it up and held back a very unamused Colborne, giving this contest its conclusion.

Other Notes

I really want to know what had Colborne so riled up. The cameras didn’t really show much after the game, and it’s not really like him to snap like that. Other than that, he had a relatively uneventful game.

Greg Scott, Matt Frattin, and Mike Zigomanis all took 5 shots. Even crazier, Philippe Dupuis took 6. He still doesn’t have a point in the Leafs organzation.

Nicolas Deschamps had a solid night – the assist going with a +1 and a couple of solid scoring chances.

Ben Scrivens looked fantastic for the first time in a while – while he wasn’t the best goalie on the ice last night (whoever decided he was first star deserves a blank stare), that’s like finishing second in a 1-on-1 for fastest man alive. The goaltenders controlled last nights game, and Big Ben did a great job on his end.

The penalty kill was a decent 3 for 4, the powerplay a very good 1 for 3. It’s been a while since both parts of the special teams were bad on the same night – you usually see 1 good, 1 bad, or both good. Lets hope it stays that way.

Toronto now has a 7 point lead over Rochester for first in the division. Granted, that’s with three games in hand, but it’s still solid.

The Marlies play tomorrow in Hamilton, and are off until Saturday’s Steeltown Showdown afterwards. Probable preview in the morning, if not, post game right after the game, AKA, not as late as this one was.

Seriously, if there’s anyone out there who’s disappointed to not get an intro from my hyping up this matchup, then they’re lying. We’ve heard everything to say about this matchup a billion times, considering that’s approximately how many times the Marlies have faced this out-of-conference team already this year. Tonight was the second such game in as many nights (sorry for no article on yesterday’s by the way, I was at the Leafs game and essentially passed out once I got home), and despite a few seconds of leaving an entire fanbase flabbergasted, was one I wouldn’t recommend catching on the PVR or replay.

The first period opened up in a way that accurately summarizes the game. Just under six minutes in, Korbinian Holzer decides that the proper way to break up a play is to high stick his enemies. Not cool, says the referees, and the Marlies head to the penalty kill. They must have channeled the Leafs PK, because by the time I was able to tweet that the powerplay had began, the powerplay had ended, with a Shawn Weller goal. But fear not! The Marlies would respond to this, by… going back to the penalty kill. Matt Frattin saw time for interference, followed by Josh Engel becoming box-bound for a slash. Nothing would come of those penalty kills though.

The second period gave people the most confusing glimmer of hope that the team has seen all year. Just under three minutes in, a right handed shot blazed through a crowd of St. John’s players, did a shifty deke, and put home the equalizer against David Aebsicher. If I told you that that was Kyle Neuber’s work, you’d call me a liar – but it was, with the pest/goon scoring his first professional goal, his first goal in any major league since his time with the Sarnia Sting in 2009/10. Definitely not what you would expect. This tie game would last about eight minutes though, as Jason Jaffray scored his 10th of the season at the half way point of the period. Jeff Finger saw some penalty box time, Jesse Blacker would be part of a scuffle late in the period to make the game 4-on-4, and suddenly, the Marlies had a period they had to rebound from, and fast.

Unfortunately, they saw “period” and “fast”, and skipped the rest of the sentence, as just 19 seconds in, Jason King shot a beauty of a wrister past Mark Owuya. The period would go on relatively blandly, with each team going to the powerplay once, neither being successful, leaving Dallas Eakins to go with an empty net with over two minutes to go. It worked, sorta – Greg Scott brought the game to within one, but with thirty seconds left at that point, it wasn’t enough.

Other Notes

Mark Owuya earned a rare regulation loss. He wasn’t particularly amazing, but wasn’t the reason the team lost by any means. 35 saves on 38 shots is no small feat, and while he had a decent chance on a couple of those goals, they weren’t quite softies. An overall good performance.

Ryan Hamilton and Matt Frattin were both a team worst -2 tonight.

The penalty kill went 4/5, the powerplay 0/3. Decent enough.

The Marlies are now six points ahead in the North Division standings making them 3rd in the Western Conference (T-4th without Divisional Leaders), and tied for 6th in the AHL. Better than I expected at this point, but hopefully they can continue moving up.

The next game is on Friday against Rochester. For European fans, this game will be broadcasted on ESPN America! Article on the goaltending controversy coming tomorrow.

The first period would start off on a few sour note. First, involving the penalty box. In the first non-hooking call the team has seen in over a game, Kesley Wilson was sent to the box for a trip. Nothing came out of it, but a few minute slater, some of the younger Bulldogs hit the jackput. Andres Engqvist took a delivery from Aaron Palushaj and Louis Leblanc and scored his 10th of the sesaon. The lead wouldn’t last long, though. Just 32 seconds later, Greg Scott (via Simon Gysbers) sent Ryan Hamilton on a breakaway (seen as the pic). Hamilton would make no mistake, scoring on Hamilton (specifically Robert Mayer) to tie the game up at 1. A couple more minor penalties would round out the period.

The second was best summarized by the only major thing that happened in it – an embarassingly dumb play by Ben Scrivens. Instead of allowing the puck to coast his way, or simply leaving it for one of his players, Scrivens skated up and tried to play it near the hash marks. Bad idea, as he would give it away. Jeff Finger channeled his inner goaltender and made the first save, but Brian Willsie wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass and socred on the second attempt at the half-empty net.

If you want good news, stop reading now, because the third period featured none. Aaron Palushaj scored his second of the night halfway through the period, and with three minutes to go, Zack Fitzgerald tallied his second of the year to put a dagger in the heart of the game.

Other Notes

Ben Scrivens had an odd night. He wasn’t good, and a lot of it was more a matter of him trying way too hard to impress. I get wanting to show that you’re not giving up the starting role easily, but the plays he failed on were ones that had absolutely no purpose even attempting the stuff he did. Epecially the second goal.

Joe Colborne had a weak game. Not just on the score sheet, but in general. No points and a -1.

Ryan Hamilton’s breakaway goal was pretty nice. He’s on fire lately, and he always does well against the Bulldogs. “Hamilton on Hamilton” is about the easiest joke headline in the world.

Greg Scott looked solid today too, and could have had a goal if it wasn’t for a fanned breakaway opportunity.

Philippe Dupuis will probably never get a point as a member of the Leafs organization at this rate.

The powerplay was invisible, the penalty kill was good. Usual business.

The attendance was rather high today, at over 6500! Good to see.

The Marlies head to St. Johns for their next two games. As always, check here for updates!