Individual defensive errors proved costly as the Marlies fell to defeat in a Boxing Day clash against the St. John’s IceCaps.
With the two rivals missing their top offensive talent, goals were always going to be at a premium in this game, emphasizing the need for solid defensive play for both teams.
First Period
Toronto was slow to get out of the blocks, with the IceCaps controlling most of the early possession. The IceCaps earned the first powerplay of the game after a spell of offensive zone pressure stemming from a poor piece of play from Justin Holl, who failed to clear the puck. With Rinat Valiev in the box, Antoine Bibeau made a pair of good saves fighting through traffic to hold the fort.
The first scheduled timeout of the period turned the tide somewhat as some stern words from Sheldon Keefe appeared to do the trick. Byron Froese spun and fired a no-look shot to give Charlie Lindgren his first action in the visitors net during Toronto’s first real stint in the offensive zone.
An unfortunate bounce sent Colin Smith to the box on a delay of game penalty, but Toronto killed the man disadvantage with ease. The greatest danger presented itself seconds after the kill as another error from Holl almost gift-wrapped the opening goal to St. John’s.
After allowing the first three shots of the game without reply, the Marlies responded by recording ten consecutive efforts on net to end the opening frame. Justin Holl was looking better in the offensive zone, where he teed up Smith, but Smith fired wide on his attempt from the slot. Dymtro Timashov and Andreas Johnsson crashed the net on the play but neither was able to force the puck by Lindgren.
Toronto’s incessant pressure drew a penalty but they couldn’t find the breakthrough as Timashov fired just wide and the luckless Froese watched his shot crash off the crossbar.
Frederik Gauthier’s line with Kerby Rychel and Colin Greening was strong on the forecheck and created an opportunity for Travis Dermott pinching into the play, but Lindgren proved equal to the effort to ensure the game was scoreless through 20 minutes.
Second Period
The middle frame proved a reverse of the first period as the IceCaps broke the game wide open.
Tobias Lindberg appeared to have a great chance just a minute in if not for a great defensive play by Jonathan Racine. 40 seconds later, the debuting Brett Findlay would have had himself a tap-in if Smith was able to feed the puck across.
Moments into the first powerplay of the period, Johnsson was robbed by Lindgren after excellent work from Rychel, and Toronto failed to score despite more good looks at the net.
Against the run of play, St. John’s broke the deadlock just before the six-minute mark.
Viktor Loov turned the puck over deep in his own end and it proved fatal — Max Friberg and Jacob de la Rose set up Daniel Audette for his fourth goal of the season with a pretty tic-tac-toe play.
It was now one-way traffic, even with a Toronto powerplay at the midway mark. Andrew Nielsen decided to play with fire not once but twice as he handed possession to Jeremy Gregoire in front of the Marlies net. The St. John’s centreman gratefully accepted the late Christmas present to put his team up 2-0 with a shorthanded marker.
Bibeau had allowed two goals on nine shots at this juncture but he was certainly not at fault for the scoreline. Without him, Toronto may have found themselves further behind after 40 minutes as they were heavily out-shot (10-3) and out-chanced in the second period.
Third Period
Having taken just two points from nine games when trailing after two periods this season, an undisciplined boarding call from Lindberg was not the way the Marlies wanted to begin the final frame. Fortunately for Toronto, former Marlie David Broll also took a ridiculous penalty behind Toronto’s net, handing a powerplay to the home team after 21 seconds of 4-on-4 play.
After a controlled zone entry presented Nielsen with time to measure his shot from the left point, Rychel was on hand to crash home a rebound to halve the deficit with the extra man four minutes into the final period.
With 16 minutes remaining on the clock, there was plenty of time to for the Marlies take something from the game. Toronto came close to tying the contest on the shift following the goal with a scramble in front before Smith and Rychel both tested Lindgren on consecutive shifts.
The plan from St. John’s was apparent: Cling on for dear life and try to catch the Marlies taking some risks.
At the midway point, Racine handed possession to Froese in the high slot but the ring of iron was heard around Ricoh Coliseum. Froese’s line looked most likely to provide a tying goal; another strong shift from the trio set-up Viktor Loov, but the defenseman’s attempt whistled just wide of the net. The bounce off the backboards was generous but Froese was unable to jam home the rebound or draw a penalty despite getting rugby tackled in his attempt to regain possession.
Valiev took the bull by the horns and singlehandedly tried to draw his team level with a little over five minutes remaining. Allowed to drive to the net uncontested from the left wing, the defenseman may have had more success releasing an earlier shot as he was snuffed out by a pokecheck from Lindgren in tight.
Another backhand effort from Froese was the closest Toronto came before Bibeau was pulled for the extra attacker with 2:52 to play. The goaltender remained on the bench for the remainder of the game as his teammates threw everything at the IceCaps.
Despite spending almost the entirety of the remaining time in the visitors zone, Toronto was unable to fashion the scoring chance needed to level the game. For the third time this season, the Marlies tasted defeat at the hands of their old foes from St. John’s.
Post Games Notes
– Kerby Rychel scored his sixth goal of the season, matching last season’s tally for the Lake Erie Monsters in eleven fewer games. The left winger has five points in as many games.
– Andreas Johnsson was adjudged to have tipped Nielsen’s shot and grabbed himself an assist on the goal. His seventh helper of the season now matches his goals total.
– While he had to take ownership over the game-losing goal against, Andrew Nielsen’s secondary assist gives him 20 points this season through 28 games.
– Antoine Bibeau is yet to record a victory against St. John’s this season. He was a passenger for long stretches of this game but certainly wasn’t at fault for the defeat given the nature of the IceCaps’ goals.
– Brett Findlay made his season debut, centering Colin Smith and Andreas Johnsson. Findlay is currently Orlando’s leading scorer with 33 points this season. Kasperi Kapanen and Brendan Leipsic are both still injured and are huge absences for Toronto.
Game Sheet – IceCaps 2 vs. Marlies 1
| SKATER | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Holl, Justin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Loov, Viktor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Nielsen, Andrew | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Dermott, Travis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| Smith, Colin | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| Froese, Byron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Johnsson, Andreas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Findlay, Brett | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marchment, Mason | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -1 |
| Cliche, Marc-Andre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Maggio, Daniel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rychel, Kerby | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | -1 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Greening, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Timashov, Dmytro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
