Toronto may not have gotten just reward for Saturday’s much-improved performance, but they were compensated Sunday afternoon despite another stellar performance from the man between the pipes for St. John’s.
On this occasion it was Eddie Pasquale who frustrated and confounded the Marlies for long stretches of this game, particularly in the second period, when Toronto had a stranglehold on the proceedings.
The opening 20 minutes were the most evenly matched of the game, although Toronto ran into penalty trouble.
Garret Sparks was called upon 17 seconds in as a sloppy pass led to a Marlie turnover.
William Nylander, a handful for the entire sixty minutes, then found Andrew Campbell in the slot, but Pasquale denied Toronto’s captain from scoring his second in as many games.
Sparks made perhaps his biggest save of the game shortly after as the IceCaps leading scorer Bud Holloway was sent in alone on Toronto’s net. Sparks refused to bite early and made a fine stop to keep it scoreless.
John Scott was more of a factor in this encounter. His big hit deep in the Marlies zone freed the puck in a good position for Angelo Miceli, but the centreman fired wide.
Freddie Gauthier then showed some poor judgement in taking a tripping penalty, but the Marlies penalty kill stepped up.
The aforementioned Scott was even receiving special team minutes in this game, but his penalty sent Toronto on a powerplay after a few seconds of 4-on-4 play.
The Marlies were better on the man advantage but they didn’t direct enough towards the net to really test Pasquale.
Toronto needed to kill a second penalty with Viktor Loov in the box for holding. Again, the PK unit stepped up.
Upon the resumption of even strength play, Toronto were almost the victims of a poor non-call from the officials. Coming out of his own zone with the puck, Loov was clearly tripped from behind but played was allowed to continue. Possession fell to Michael McCarron who fed Tim Bozon at the backdoor, but Sparks again came to the rescue with a wonderful sprawling save that was far more effective than elegant.
Darren Dietz was the next to test Toronto’s goaltender before McCarron turned provider for Max Friberg, but the Marlies defense did a good job of smothering the play.
The Marlies finished stronger in the opening period, with Nylander watching in disbelief as Pasquale pulled off a wonderful save to deny the 19-year-old. A last minute spell of possession was the precursor for a second period of utter domination for the Marlies, who could have been ahead by a hatful after 40 minutes.
The Marlies’ makeshift fourth line of T.J Foster, Rylan Schwartz and David Kolomatis set the tone for their team with an excellent first shift.
Kasperi Kapanen has been nothing but terrific since the World Juniors, and his short side effort flicked off the blocker of Pasquale and ended up on the wrong side of the post.
Zach Hyman was enjoying his opportunity alongside Kapanen and Nylander, with the latter teeing him up for a look, but Pasquale turned aside his low shot.
It was the Finnish goal medal winner who finally cracked the home team’s defense. Bud Holloway coughed up the puck and Kapanen was onto it like a flash, speeding away down the right side. He fooled the IceCaps with a really nice pass to find Brett Findlay marauding down the centre of the ice. The native of Echo Bay, Ontario — one of Toronto’s nice surprises this season — sniped home his second of the year.
It could have immediately been 2-0 as Stuart Percy’s shot was expertly tipped in front by Frattin, but Pasquale adapted well to get a piece of the effort.
It was one way traffic for Toronto and they were even getting some calls from the officials, winding up with a two-man advantage on a poor decision from the referees. Nikita Soshnikov rang a shot off the post, while Findlay’s effort brought another fine save out of Pasquale after the puck bounced around the slot.
With eight minutes of the middle frame to play, Toronto held a 14-1 advantage in second-period shots.
Nylander took his second penalty in as many games after watching Pasquale deny him once again. Toronto’s penalty kill stood tall thanks to the excellence of Sparks and some brave shot-blocking in front of him. Connor Brown even came close to tallying shorthanded after Hyman won possession in the defensive zone.
Despite firing 19 times on Pasquale, the Marlies only had the one-goal lead to their name after 40 minutes.
Another powerplay went begging for Toronto early in the final frame before Sparks had to be alert as the home team used the momentum to test him back at even strength.
Tobias Lindberg, having a better game alongside Soshnikov and Gauthier, almost teed up the latter for the second goal of the game.
The Marlies were finally rewarded and doubled their lead three minutes into the third period. Findlay was unable to connect with Frattin’s superb cross-crease feed, but he stayed with the play and corralled the puck at the backboards. Using his ingenuity with no obvious play available, Findlay banked the puck in off the backside of Pasquale, who wasn’t well positioned. A really good, if unexpected, finish from Findlay, whose confidence has never been higher than it is right now.
There was no sitting back on the lead from the Marlies, who kept pouring forward, looking to kill this game off as a contest. Hyman was denied on a wraparound attempt before Brown came within inches of putting home another fine delivery from Frattin.
Toronto’s frustrations with the man advantage continued, with the lack of puck luck noticeable around the net.
Seconds after killing the penalty, St. John’s orchestrated a 2-on-1 rush but Rinat Valiev made a tremendous diving play to snuff out the chance.
The game really opened up as time wore on, with the IceCaps beginning to throw caution to the wind down two.
Soshnikov and Lindberg were both denied on an outstanding shift from their line before the parade of penalties resumed.
Toronto’s sixth powerplay of the game was halted by a ridiculous interference call on Stuart Percy. To the IceCaps credit, they profited on their good fortune 33 seconds into the man advantage. Holloway blasted home a one timer from the left circle on a feed from Morgan Ellis.
A 2-1 game with just over three minutes to play meant anything was still possible. Toronto responded by sticking to their structure, even though the IceCaps pulled Pasquale for the majority of the remaining 120 seconds. Sparks was only really called on to make one decent save with under ten seconds to play to secure a well-deserved win.
Post Game Notes
– It was Brett Findlay’s first multi-goal game in the AHL, and he could have had a hat trick. He’s found some chemistry centred between Matt Frattin and Connor Brown in this depleted line-up. Orlando might be a distant memory for him this season.
– Matt Frattin fired eights shots on net, equalling a career high. It’s hard to say if the trade sparked him into life, but he looked much improved this weekend. Things happen when he shoots the puck. He could also have had a handful of assists — instead of just the one — with a little more puck luck.
– For a fourth straight game, Kasperi Kapanen tallied at least a point, with the Finnish winger up to ten points (three goals/seven assists) in his last nine outings since his return from the World Juniors.
– The Marlies fired a season-high 46 shots, in a game more notable for Toronto’s structure rather than the “tennis” hockey we’ve seen from them lately — something Garret Sparks noted in his post game presser.
– Speaking of Garret Sparks, he had his best game of late, benefiting from an outing in Orlando and a week of practise with Pierro Greco.
– Toronto’s powerplay went zero for six but looked a far more potent weapon than it had recently.
Game Highlights
Marlies Player Stats — Toronto 2 vs. St. John’s 1
| PLAYERS | Position | G | A | +/- | SH | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brennan, T.J. | D | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Percy, Stuart | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Hyman, Zach | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Foster, T.J. | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Schwartz, Rylan | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | RW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Kolomatis, David | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Brown, Connor | RW | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Findlay, Brett | LW | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Frattin, Matt | RW | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 |
| Holl, Justin | D | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Kapanen, Kasperi | RW | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Loov, Viktor | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Valiev, Rinat | D | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Nylander, William | C | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Soshnikov, Nikita | LW | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
