Tagged: blacker

I have to admit, in most cases, two teams having similar names in the same league usually annoys me. There’s so much room for creativity, and organizations still attempt to confuse you. The AHL has a case of this, and it’s the only case where I’ll accept it. Why is that? Today, while the Marlies face the Admirals in a late season battle, it’s the ones from Milwaukee, not Norfolk, which invokes a sigh of relief in many people.

If you’re someone who likes to stay up to date with the Marlies, but don’t pay a ton of attention to the rest of the league, there’s a stark difference between the two teams. Milwaukee is fourth in their division, with 66 points in 61 games. In the past ten, they’re a decent team, being 5-4-0-1. By comparison, the Marlies have 77 points in 63 games, are first in their division, and are 6-3-0-1 in their past ten. It’s a matchup Toronto comes out as favourites in. Now, if they were facing Norfolk?

After looking like a decent team at the 48 game marks, they’ve turned into a team that nobody wants to face right now. In 65 games, they’ve racked up 91 points. Out of the last 34 points available to them, they’ve picked up 34. No lie, they’ve won 17 straight games, which ties an AHL record. Needless to say, Milwaukee is the lesser of two evils. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Toronto can coast through this game, and, finally getting to the point, they ultimately put in a solid 60 minute and took their fourth straight win, 3-2.

The first period started off stale, but the Marlies really found their opening groove midway through the second period. Jesse Blacker showed the first real sign of presence for the team, with a fantastic defensive effort that almost turned into the opening goal. A powerplay came out of that shift, and the man advantage gave the game its opening goal. Ryan Hamilton picked up a rebound started up by Philippe Dupuis and Mike Zigomanis, slapping home his 23^rd goal of the season. The blue and white had one more man advantage at the end of the period, but didn’t succeed with it.

The middle frame opened on a high note, seeing Nazem Kadri sail in and whip home a wrist shot in the first minute. After that, the game became very back and forth, but with few shots – just fourteen combined in the second. The end ones were the most important, though, with Milwaukee bringing the game to within one with fifty two seconds left in the period. There were also five penalties over the course of the twenty minutes, Toronto’s coming courtesy of Jerry D’Amigo, and two from Juraj Mikus.

The third saw the lead evaporate at the eight minute mark. Kyle Wilson, not to be confused with the Marlies’ Kelsey, had a breakaway opportunity and made the best of it, tying the game. The Admirals continued to put on the throughout the period, but Kadri showed the crowd that he still had more in him, scoring his thirteenth of the season to give his team the lead in the final minutes. The team held onto the lead, and kept the score as it was until the final buzzer.

Other Notes

Jussi Rynnas was decent. That second goal he allowed was a bit of a bad judgement call, opting for a poke check instead of a typical save. In the end though, 24 saves on 26 shots is statistically sound.

Having Ryan Hamilton stay healthy this year has been nothing short of massive for the team. His 23rd goal of the year continues to separate him from his previous highs for the team.

Nazem Kadri was fantastic tonight. The “nifty mittens” were out in full force, carving through opponents at will. The pair of goals were just icing on the cake on one of his best showings this year. Just absolutely dominant stuff.

Mike Zigomanis showed up with a trio of assists, also building on a career high.

Jesse Blacker’s play to almost give the Marlies the opening goal before they actually did was probably the best play of the game.

The special teams were typical to slightly above typical. Rock solid penalty kill (3 for 3) and the powerplay even managed to score (1 for 4).

The Marlies play their next game tomorrow afternoon against the Chicago Wolves, at 3PM. You have a lot of options for this one – on top of my twitter, you can follow the game along on AM640, watch it on LeafsTV, or head down to Ricoh Coliseum to catch what looks to be a good potential matchup against the Canucks affiliate.