Two games in Syracuse this weekend are likely to go a long way in deciding who sits atop the North Division when the regular season is over.
The Marlies and Crunch were tied on points heading into this Friday night tilt at the famous War Memorial Arena.
First Period
Much like their previous meeting, Toronto was very much on top during the opening 20 minutes of play, heavily outshooting Syracuse, but Crunch goaltender Mike McKenna was outstanding between the pipes.
Garret Sparks was called on to make a pair of smart saves on the first power play of the game, which was as close as Syracuse came before the Marlies opened the scoring at the eight-minute mark.
Seth Griffith was denied on a breakaway by McKenna on the first power play of the game, but the experienced netminder had no chance of stopping the right winger 30 seconds later after his rasping one-timer clipped the right post on its way into the net.
The two teams were involved in plenty of rough stuff in their last encounter and it didn’t take long for it to rear its head in this outing. Sergey Kalinin was embroiled in a fight with John Kurtz after the Crunch man took offence to a hit along the boards.
Neither side was playing disciplined, with Tye McGinn assessed a double minor for high sticking followed by a cross-checking penalty to Seth Griffith less than a minute later.
Toronto doubled their lead during four-on-four hockey. Trevor Moore sent Brendan Leipsic in alone on goal and the Marlies left winger showed great composure beating McKenna one-on-one.
Despite finishing the period on another power play, the Marlies could not extend their advantage.
Toronto outshot the Crunch 17-7 after 20 minutes.
Second Period
Toronto was once more the better team at even strength for long stretches of the middle frame but saw their lead evaporate after 40 minutes.
They only registered six shots on goal, but Syracuse was clinical with their chances.
Four-on-four play again produced a goal after somehow Ben Thomas snuck behind three Marlies players on a pass from Erik Condra. He made no mistake with a top-shelf finish for his third goal of the season.
The Crunch tied the game up three minutes later. The Marlies were guilty of overplaying the puck behind the net and a turnover allowed Jonathan Racine to score with a deflected backhand attempt.
The second period finished with a flurry of penalties, leading to a prolonged spell of 5-on-3 time for the Marlies. The Toronto power play was predictable — guilty of moving the puck far too slowly and without purpose — and barely tested McKenna.
Third Period/Shootout
The 5-on-3 kill received a raucous applause from the home fans and momentum was certainly with the Crunch as the third period began. The tide had turned as Syracuse outshot Toronto by a 2:1 ratio in the final frame.
The Marlies didn’t help their cause by taking another unnecessary penalty. Griffith was called for interference and seemed to incur the wrath of Sheldon Keefe before making his way to the box.
Under the cosh in the third period, Toronto was certainly relieved to take a point at the end of regulation.
Overtime produced just three shots in total but there was no shortage of drama. With Kerby Rychel called for tripping, the Marlies were faced with the prospect of playing the remainder of the extra frame down a man.
Matt Taormina struck the crossbar, while there were a couple of heroic Marlie shot blocks, including one from Andrew Campbell that broke his stick clean in half, and Toronto lived to see a shootout.
The tie-breaking skills competitions have been few and far between for the Marlies this season, but they certainly have better shooting talent than earlier this season and theoretically should find success in this format.
Seth Griffith netted for the Marlies and Sparks turned aside all three Crunch shooters to secure the extra point.
Post Game Notes
– This marked a fifth straight win for the Marlies as well as their first win of the season in Syracuse.
– Toronto now holds a one-point lead at the top of the North Division.
– Toronto went 1/7 on the power play and killed off all three penalties.
– Brendan Leipsic netted his 14th goal of the season and has six points in four games against Syracuse.
– With 24 saves on 26 shots, this was Garet Sparks’ third straight win since his return from injury.
Game Highlights
Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe
Game Sheet – Toronto 3 vs. Syracuse 2 (SO)
| Skater | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 |
| Holl, Justin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oleksy, Steve | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Nielsen, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Dermott, Travis | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -1 |
| Sislo, Mike | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 |
| O'Reilly, Cal | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnsson, Andreas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Kalinin, Sergey | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Leipsic, Brendan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rychel, Kerby | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greening, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Griffith, Seth | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Timashov, Dmytro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Moore, Trevor | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
