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The Toronto Marlies slipped to a third straight defeat on home ice after a late collapse, but the more pressing concern is a serious-looking injury to a key member at center ice in Miro Aaltonen.

First Period

The opening period was scoreless affair and a tale of two halves: Toronto was on top for the opening ten minutes, with Miro Aaltonen unable to score on a prime rebound chance and two power plays producing good looks without success. The visiting Amerks then got themselves into the game as the Marlies proceeded to turn the puck over regularly in dangerous spots.

The best Rochester chance fell to Colin Blackwell alone in the slot, but Calvin Pickard didn’t bite and the opportunity passed by for the Rochester forward.

Second Period

Toronto began the second period with some jump but couldn’t buy any luck in front of goal before falling behind inside five minutes.

A shot from Calle Rosen missed the net and the puck rung around the boards, leading to an odd-man for Rochester. Blackwell set up Seth Griffith for his second goal in as many days against his former team.

The Marlies struck back less than four minutes later when Ben Smith tipped home a shot from Rosen to level the score.

Frederik Gauthier — on a bad-angle backhand attempt — and Aaltonen — on a redirect –almost put Toronto ahead, while Pickard had to be alert to turn aside Nathan Redmond and Alex Nylander at the other end.

Griffith nearly doubled his tally on a power play for the Amerks but Pickard made an important save before Toronto went on to strike two late-period goals.

Aaltonen showed Griffith how it was done on the breakaway by scoring blocker side on Adam Wilcox. That was followed by an inch-perfect pass from behind the net by Kerby Rychel, splitting three Rochester players and evading the stick of Wilcox before finding Mueller, who delivered the finish from the low slot.

Third Period

Toronto just required a steady third-period performance to claim victory but they got off to a sloppy start; a turnover from Timashov almost led to a Rochester goal inside a minute before the visitors went to an early power play.

Unable to capitalize with the extra man, the Amerks were found a way back into the game at even strength. The recipient of a reverse pass from Kevin Porter, Stuart Percy cruised in from the blue line to low in the left circle unattended and beat Pickard short-side.

Toronto responded in kind, taking a 4-2 lead with 8:45 on the clock. The “kid line” connected, with Adam Brooks shifting the puck out wide to Jeremy Bracco, who shot low across Wilcox and forced him into a pad save. Crashing the net was Mason Marchment, who buried the rebound.

The turning point of the game came around a minute or so later. With the puck long since gone, Griffith hauled down Aaltonen, slamming the Marlies forward to the ice. After hitting the ice surface head first, Aaltonen lay prone before eventually being helped off the ice and carried down the tunnel.

Surprisingly, there was no penalty called on the play; maybe it was the injury and subsequent no-call that rattled the team, or maybe it was a case of getting too comfortable in possession of the lead, but Toronto proceeded to fall apart from that moment on.

Kyle Criscuolo spun and shot in one movement and the puck clipped the shaft of Blackwell’s stick on its way past Pickard. Sean Malone then tied the game at 4-4 less than a minute later after Nylander’s initial attempt was blocked.

With 2:18 remaining, Kevin Porter slammed home his 14th of the season before the Amerks secured a 7-4 win with a pair of empty-net goals for Justin Bailey.

It was a tough lesson for this year’s Toronto Marlies, who have yet to replicate their excellent road form back at Ricoh Coliseum this season as far as the consistency of their 60-minute performances.


Post Game Notes

– Toronto leads the season series 4-2 with two games remaining.

– The Marlies‘ magic number to ensure a post-season berth is 14 points.

Miro Aaltonen notched his 15th goal of the season and a 21st assist before leaving the game injured. This was Aaltonen’s sixth multi-point haul in six games, and if misses time, he’s going to be a big absence given the lack of quality depth at the center position.

Ben Smith reached 40 points on the season with his 21st goal in his 55th game.

– With his 20th assist of the year, Kerby Rychel hit the 30-point mark in his 55th appearance of the season before being traded in a deal that brought Tomas Plekanec and Toronto native — and Bobby Baun’s grandson — Kyle Baun back to Toronto on Sunday.

The loss of defenseman Rinat Valiev — who was really hitting his stride as the season wore on — isn’t an easy one to take for the Marlies, but they do have enviable depth on the wings and on the backend.

Andreas Johnsson kept up his point-per-game pace through 49 outings with an assist on Aaltonen’s goal.

Calvin Pickard suffered consecutive defeats for the first time since December. He’s now 17-7-0 on the season with a .925 save percentage.

– Saturday’s lines:

Forwards
Johnsson-Aaltonen-Timashov
Moore-Mueller-Smith
Rychel-Gauthier-Greening
Marchment-Brooks-Bracco

Defencemen
Borgman-Marincin
Rosen-LoVerde
Nielsen-Liljegren

Goaltenders
Pickard
Sparks


Game Highlights


Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe