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The Toronto Marlies four-game win streak came to a halt at the hands of the North Division-leading Syracuse Crunch.

Back on home ice for the first time since January 14, the Marlies couldn’t overcome subpar goaltending and poor defensive play on Saturday. Winners of the first two games in the season series, the Crunch relinquished 2-0 and 3-2 leads but kept on coming, riding a two-goal third period to a 5-3 win.

First Period

The Marlies went down by a goal a mere 2:47 into the game, with Cory Conacher finishing off from the slot. The Crunch then doubled their lead just 30 seconds later; Garret Sparks gave up consecutive rebounds before Tanner Richard jammed the puck past him on the third attempt.

Toronto responded positively, dominating the remainder of the first period. It was a pushback initially started by Frederik Gauthier; the returning forward set up Andreas Johnsson at the backdoor, but the Swedish winger was unable to produce the finishing touch. Gauthier then took matters into his own hands with a rush down the right wing, but Crunch goaltender Adam Wilcox came up with the save.

A few minutes later, a booming shot from Andrew Nielsen almost beat Wilcox before Trevor Moore came within inches of finishing off the rebound.

Toronto’s relentless pressure was rewarded with nine minutes played. Moments after Eric Faille nearly jammed an effort past Wilcox at the side of the net, Dmytro Timashov redirected a shot from William Wrenn to halve the deficit.

Seth Griffith, making his home debut for the Marlies, nearly tied the game during a goalmouth scramble with eight minutes remaining.

Toronto earned the first powerplay of the night with 5:30 to play in the first and did everything but score with the extra man — Johnsson x2, Griffith, and Kerby Rychel all tried their luck to no avail.

The Marlies found their second goal with just 32 seconds left on the clock. Griffith dangled his way from the right circle into the slot area and looked like he was going to shoot on his backhand before sending a reverse pass to Moore, who gratefully tucked home his fifth of the season.

The teams were tied at two apiece through 20 minutes, although Toronto was dominating the shot clock 22-5 by this point.

Second Period

After a fantastic fifteen minutes of play that saw them fight out of a two-goal hole, the Marlies gifted their opponents a go-ahead marker 42 seconds into the middle frame. Viktor Loov was outworked below the goal line and coughed up possession cheaply while attempting a cute reverse pass. A diving Erik Condra shoveled the loose puck to Mike Halmo, who comfortably beat Sparks to restore the lead for Syracuse.

A powerplay for Toronto three minutes into the period didn’t produce much aside from a close call on a shorthanded chance for Matthew Peca after a bungled zone entry by Johnsson.

The tide had now turned in favour of Syracuse, who earned their first chance on the powerplay just before the six-minute mark. Sparks made the two saves required of him shorthanded, the beginning of a busy ten minutes for the Marlies goaltender as Syracuse owned the lion’s share of possession and zone time.

A cross-checking penalty by Tanner Richard on Byron Froese 200 feet from the Syracuse net sent the Marlies to their third powerplay of the game with five minutes remaining in the second period. After the Marlies dodged a bullet with Sparks denying Conacher on an odd-man rush, Timashov found a lane to shift the puck to Griffith in the right circle. Everyone was thinking shot, but the newest Marlies recruit sent a backdoor pass for Moore to finish off for his second of the game.

Third Period

After drawing level, the Marlies were firmly on the back foot as Syracuse finished the second period with a spell of concerted pressure and began the final frame much the same way.

The Crunch set about solving the Marlies penalty kill with Travis Dermott sent to the box just 28 seconds into the period. Syracuse’s best chance came during a mad scramble in front that saw Sparks down and out and four Marlies players in the blue paint scrambling to bail out their goaltender.

It didn’t take long for Syracuse to re-establish their lead back at even strength. After Conacher’s intended pass bounced back to him off the shin pad of Wrenn, the Crunch forward stabbed at the bouncing puck and it floated past Sparks’ blocker.

Toronto appeared deflated after the 4-3 goal, barely crossing the offensive blue line before the Crunch added an insurance marker with seven minutes left to play. A shot from Conacher was guided wide of the net by the shaft of Sparks‘ stick. With Sparks taking his time getting back into position, Kevin Lynch banked the puck off of the Marlies netminder and in from below the goal line.

With just five shots on net during the third period, a Marlies comeback never looked on the cards.


Post Game Notes

– Toronto’s 22 shots in the opening 20 minutes was a season high among first periods this season.

– Trevor Moore’s first multi-goal outing extends his points streak to five games.

– Seth Griffith was the Marlies best player again in this game. His two assists extend his points streak to six since joining the team.

– A goal and an assist for Dmytro Timashov give him five points in his last three games.

– Garret Sparks’ recent good form vanished during this performance. He did make a handful of excellent saves, but he owned some of the blame on two if not three of the Crunch goals.

– Travis Dermott’s assist extends his points streak to four games.

– After starting the day in a playoff position thanks to Utica’s loss on Friday night, Toronto has fallen back into fifth in the North Division with Saturday’s loss.


Game Highlights


Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe


Game Sheet – Syracuse 5 vs. Toronto 3

SkaterGAPIMShots+/-
Campbell, Andrew0003-1
Holl, Justin0003-1
Loov, Viktor0000-1
Nielsen, Andrew0023-1
Wrenn, William0100-1
Dermott, Travis0124-1
Smith, Colin00020
Froese, Byron0003-1
Johnsson, Andreas0003-3
Clune, Richard0001-3
Faille, Eric00001
Gauthier, Frederik0003-3
Rychel, Kerby00040
Greening, Colin00011
Griffith, Seth0204-1
Timashov, Dmytro11021
Cameranesi, Tony00000
Moore, Trevor2003-1