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It looked like the Toronto Marlies were going to drop a third straight game before a late third-period comeback snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

The Marlies certainly put in a far better performance than they have of late, although they were behind the eight ball for much of the game due to a few costly mistakes and were guilty over-complicating things when opportunities presented themselves offensively.

First Period

After an evenly-played start, a mistake from the Marlies while on the front foot allowed Rochester to strike with four minutes on the clock. Kyle Criscuolo sent a pass through the neutral zone to Seth Griffith, who escaped behind the Toronto defense and beat Garret Sparks five-hole.

Toronto drew two penalties in a five-minute span but nullified the first opportunity with a penalty of their own 18 seconds in before the second was easily dealt with by the Rochester penalty kill.

A third man-advantage opportunity, however, saw the Marlies draw themselves level with three minutes remaining in the first period. Calle Rosen finally shifted that monkey from his back by rifling a wrist shot past Linus Ullmark from the point, much to his obvious delight, which was shared in by the entire Marlies bench.

Toronto finished the period strongly and could have been ahead through 20 minutes, but Colin Greening and Chris Mueller were unable to provide the final touch in front of goal.

Second Period

Rochester struck back early in the second period on just their sixth recorded shot of the game.

Less than two minutes into the middle frame, a banked pass off the left boards from Zach Redmond sent Justin Bailey away to the races. Sparks was comprehensively beaten again by a terrific finish from the Amerks forward.

Rochester’s first full power play was seen off by Toronto, but the Marlies were struggling to create much in the way of scoring chances through the opening 10 minutes of the middle frame.

Toronto fell further behind with 13 minutes played when the Americans struck on an odd-man rush, although not in the way you’d expect: Justin Bailey’s shot missed left side but the rebound off of the back wall favoured Alexander Nylander waiting at the other side of the net. From a tight angle, he scooped the puck past Sparks.

Now trailing 3-1, Toronto needed an immediate response and the memo was answered just 66 seconds later. Trevor Moore back checked and stripped the puck from Nathan Redmond at the Rochester blue line before heading for goal from the right side. Mueller jumped on Moore’s rebound to draw Toronto within one.

The teams exchanged power play opportunities to end the period, but the PK units were on top and the Marlies headed into the third period in need of yet another late comeback.

Third Period

The Marlies survived an early scare when Bailey should really have scored on a second effort, but from that point on, Toronto dominated the final period.

The officials weren’t helping the Marlies cause, halting a dominate spell of pressure around the Amerks net with a dubious goaltender interference call. After an excellent PK, the Marlies thought they scored but the goal was waived off due to interference despite Ullmark sliding the puck into his own cage.

Kerby Rychel brought a sharp save out of Ullmark with eight minutes to play before Moore struck the crossbar on the third effort during a Marlies power play.

Just as it looked like Toronto might rue their mistakes in the opening 40 minutes, Mueller finally tied the game up with 4:13 remaining. Martin Marincin found Mueller, who pulled wide of Stuart Percy into the right circle and fired a low shot across and past Ullmark.

The Americans have been the overtime kings this season, so Toronto wanted this done and dusted in regulation and notched a go-ahead marker just over a minute later.

Rychel surged down the left wing before finding Mueller in the slot, who dangled his way around Nylander before firing on net. After his shot was stopped, Ben Smith jumped into the melee for the loose puck before Rychel — also driving the net — forced the puck over the line.

The Auston Matthews-like celebration summed up what the goal meant to Rychel and the team, who secured the 5-3 victory with an empty-netter through Miro Aaltonen.


Post Game Notes

– Toronto improved to 5-11-0 when trailing after two periods of play.

– Toronto out-shot Rochester 36-17, although that doesn’t tell the whole story. The Amerks missed the target on several prime scoring chances and hit the iron once.

– The Marlies have won all three games in Rochester this season and lead the series 4-1.

– Toronto‘s penalty kill was a perfect 4-4 and the power play registered for a fourth consecutive game. As per Todd Crocker, this was the 35th game this year Toronto has not allowed a power play goal.

– Two assists for Andreas Johnsson gives him 48 points in as many games. He appeared none-the-worse after the recent upper-body injury kept him out of the previous game.

Chris Mueller was a standout player in this game as he recorded his first three-point haul of the season (2-1-3). That broke a four-game pointless streak for the forward, who had been on a nice run up until that barren spell.

– He finally did it! Calle Rosen scored his first Marlies goal on what was his 112th shot of the season. He and Mueller led all skaters with seven shots apiece, and hopefully that’s the kick-start Rosen needed moving forward offensively.

“He’s been all over the net,” said Sheldon Keefe. “He’s been getting his shot through very consistently. That’s been happening for quite a while now. It seemed like it was a matter of time. He has been playing excellent hockey for us. It’s good to see him get rewarded today.”

– I’ve found Trevor Moore to be a frustrating player this season, particularly with his decision making in the offensive zone. However, it was his hard work that led to the crucial second goal and he recorded a second assist on the empty netter as Sheldon Keefe entrusted him with the responsibility of protecting the lead.

“One of the things that he’s doing well when he’s playing well is tracking guys from behind and getting pucks back for us,” said Keefe. “That’s something on Mooresy quite a bit to do and stay consistent with because he’s got the ability with his speed and strength to get those pucks back for us.”

Garret Sparks notched his 21st win of the season, tying last years total and his AHL career high. He’s now just one victory shy of tying the franchise record in all-time wins held by Justin Pogge (71).

– Friday’s lines:

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

Defencemen
Borgman-Marincin
Valiev-LoVerde
Nielsen-Rosen

Goaltenders
Sparks
Pickard

Scratches: Liljegren, Bracco, Dupuy
Injured: Holl


Game Highlights


Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe