The last regular season meeting between Syracuse and Toronto was as hard-fought and tightly-contested as the previous seven encounters.
The Marlies came out on top in a second consecutive three-point game to remain at the top of North Division standings with six games to go.
First Period
It’s never an easy task achieving back-to-back wins on the road against the same team, but the visiting Marlies got off to a good start toward that end.
Kasimir Kaskisuo faced his first action at the two-minute mark before Toronto’s momentum was halted by the first penalty of the game on the same shift.
The penalty kill allowed zero shots against, but the Marlies conceded back at even strength just 30 seconds later. Andrew Nielsen turned the puck over deep in his own zone, and Kevin Lynch scored on the second attempt after Kaskisuo made the initial save on Tye McGinn.
Toronto almost replied immediately but Kristers Gudlevskis made a pair of fantastic stops to deny Trevor Moore and Colin Greening after some stellar work from Brendan Leipsic. That opportunity led to a better spell of play from Toronto, but it was cut short by yet another controversial incident between these two teams.
Steve Oleksy’s hit on Mike Halmo looked clean, but the Crunch man took umbrage and dropped the gloves with the Marlies defenseman. With no instigator penalty handed out, the fight appeared to knock Toronto off their stride.
After Kaskisuo denied Erik Condra on an odd-man rush with Lynch, the officials made another dubious call on Mike Sislo for interference.
The Marlies penalty kill stood firm for the second time before drawing their first man advantage inside the final minute of the first. As time was about to expire, a pretty passing movement wound up on the stick of Andreas Johnsson, but the Swedish winger failed to convert right as the buzzer sounded.
Second Period
After the remainder of the Marlies power play amounted to nothing, the Crunch began to control the game back at even strength.
Kaskisuo came to Toronto’s rescue with a save on Cory Conacher following a turnover by Leipsic. Condra then tested the rookie goaltender before Lynch missed the target from another promising position.
It was of little surprise when Syracuse put themselves ahead by a pair at the seven-minute mark. After Condra’s effort deflected and took a wicked bounce in front of Kaskisuo, the rebound fell kindly for Tanner Richard to tuck away.
Toronto needed a spark at the midway mark and got one courtesy of Dmytro Timashov’s line. The Marlies drew two penalties in a 20-second span, although they didn’t test Gudlevskis enough with the extra men.
Just three seconds after the first Syracuse player exited the box, Toronto got themselves on the board. A tic-tac-toe play involving Brett Findlay and Trevor Moore was finished off by Leipsic, who slapped home on his forehand before Gudlevskis could get across to the left post.
The Marlies were now asserting themselves on the game, but the Crunch were doing an excellent job of keeping shots to the outside and getting bodies in the shooting lanes when Toronto threatened from the slot area.
An unnecessary boarding penalty from Andrew Campbell put his team on the back-foot late in the period, but the Marlies almost responded by netting shorthanded inside the final 45 seconds — Johnsson sped away alone on goal but fired wide while looking for the perfect placement.
Third Period
Syracuse will look back at the opening six minutes of the third period and wonder how they didn’t sew up the two points. After Gudlevskis’ kick save turned aside Leipsic, the Crunch dominated play but were unable to find a way past Kaskisuo.
Toronto dealt Syracuse a dagger blow with a goal against the run of play six minutes into the period. Johnsson led a rush from deep in his own zone before dumping the puck in for Sislo to chase. The veteran forward won a foot race behind the net, shielded the puck and found Frederik Gauthier in front, where the big centerman rifled home a one-timer from low in the left circle for his third goal of the season.
After Gauthier’s goal, what was a tight game with few clear-cut scoring opportunities for either team suddenly gave way to some wide-open, structure-free hockey, with both teams squandering chances to claim a winner.
Kaskisuo denied Lynch during a 2-on-1 break before Toronto went back on a rush the other way, where Brett Findlay missed the target with an effort that clipped the wrong side of the post. Steve Oleksy and Campbell both tested Gudlevskis shortly after.
There were plenty of looks in promising positions for both teams late in the third. Justin Holl looked odds-on to score in tight but Gudlevskis came up with his best save of the game, while Kaskisuo remained sharp in the dying seconds of regulation with Syracuse shooting on sight.
Overtime/Shootout
Overtime failed to produce a winner, but unsurprisingly there was no shortage of drama at three-on-three.
Conacher’s chance 50 seconds in didn’t register as a shot on goal, but Kaskisuo appeared to get a piece of it to steer it high.
Syracuse’s hearts were in their mouths when Brendan Leipsic — who scored on a breakaway Friday night — raced away a minute later. Leipsic was hacked down and a penalty shot was awarded, but the diminutive winger shot wide after a flurry of moves sent Gudlevskis sliding across his crease.
Conacher came close again for the home team, while Toronto almost snatched victory through Cal O’Reilly and Travis Dermott. After Dmytro Timashov was robbed in the final ten seconds when in alone on Gudlevskis, the two teams headed to the shootout for the second consecutive night.
Seth Griffith scored in the first round like he did on Friday night, but this time it didn’t stand up as the game-winner after Lynch scored on Syracuse’s third shot to keep the game alive. Moore and Rychel missed opportunities to claim the extra point before Timashov stepped up as the Marlies’ sixth shooter.
Driving across the crease from right to left, the Ukrainian native faked out Gudlevskis and fired the puck back behind the goaltender to claim the extra point for the Marlies.
Post Game Notes
– A sixth straight victory for Toronto marks their longest winning streak of the season. Toronto now leads the North Division by two points.
– This was just the Marlies fourth shootout of the season and they’ve now won their last three.
– Brendan Leipsic netted his 15th of the season and extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.
– Andreas Johnsson’s assist on Frederik Gauthier’s third-period goal was his 25th of the season.
– With a 30-save performance, Kasimir Kaskisuo has now won all four of his starts for the Marlies this season.
Game Highlights
Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe
Game Sheet – Toronto 3 vs. Syracuse 2 (SO)
| Skater | G | A | PIM | Shots | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Valiev, Rinat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Holl, Justin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 |
| Oleksy, Steve | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Nielsen, Andrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Dermott, Travis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Sislo, Mike | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| O'Reilly, Cal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -2 |
| Johnsson, Andreas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Findlay, Brett | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leipsic, Brendan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Gauthier, Frederik | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Rychel, Kerby | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Lindberg, Tobias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greening, Colin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Griffith, Seth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 |
| Timashov, Dmytro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moore, Trevor | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
