Marlies Week 3 Recap / 4 Preview: Back And Forth With Belleville
The Toronto Marlies played a pair of weekend games against the Belleville Senators on Saturday and Sunday, both of which left their home fans unhappy. Sometimes, that’s just how it is in a league like this. Toronto picked up two points in Belleville on Saturday, only to have the favour returned to them at the Coalseum.
Saturday October 17 – Toronto 5, Belleville 4
Saturday’s win was a come-from-behind effort, as the Marlies found themselves in a lot of early trouble. A wicked wrist shot from Oskar Pettersson put them down 1-0 just two and a half mintues in, and a minute later, Ryan Suzuki cruised into open space to put Belleville up two. It wouldn’t take long for Toronto to climb back, though. Henrik Rybinski capped off a give-and-go rush fewer than 30 seconds after the Suzuki goal, while Miroslav Holinka buried his first as a Marlie with two and a half minutes in the period.
Luke Haymes looked to put the Marlies up in the second period, but the after a review, Toronto were proven to be well offside. Vinni Lettieri, who was called up by the Maple Leafs following the game, scored a much more legal go-ahead goal a minute later, taking a feed from newcomer Aatu Raty and making no mistake. The game would go back and forth a couple times more from here – Eskild Bakke Olsen tied things up with Holinka in the penalty box late in the second period, captain Logan Shaw put Toronto ahead again early in the third, and Kasper Halttunen scored the game’s third equalizer with eight and a half minutes remaining in regulation.
In overtime, Brendan Brisson, hero in Toronto’s previous game against Hamilton, worked his magic once more, taking in a feed from Shaw and blasting a one-timer beneath the crossbar to end the game.
Sunday October 18 – Belleville 4, Toronto 2
Once again, the Senators scored the first two goals of this game, though they were wise to take their time with it this time around. Brief former Leafs forward Sammy Blais broke the ice eight minutes into the first period, going forehand-backhand on Artur Akthyamov. With Marc Johnstone in the box for Toronto, Phil Tomasino doubled up Belleville’s lead midway through the second, sneaking behind a Senators rush and finding open space for a heavy wrist shot. Vinny Borgesi kept Toronto within each by scoring his first professional goal a minute later, ripping a wrist shot just two seconds into a Marlies powerplay.
The game remained scoreless until the final moments, where Belleville picked up two empty netters. Brisson scored yet another goal between them, but that was as close as they would get.
Notes
- Marlies head coach Steve Sullivan said in an interview with Daily Faceoff that Ben Danford’s development was a top priority for the team, and if you look at the deployment this weekend, you know he’s not lying. Despite being a rookie in the league, Danford played just under 50 minutes across the two games – easily the most on the team this weekend. Toronto needs a young success story in their NHL blue line sooner than later and while they’re not going to rush Danford to the Leafs, they’re going to give him every chance they can to be that guy.
- This Brendan Brisson “Linsanity” run is veering on hilarious at this point. A shooting percentage of 64% through six games, plus scoring his one shootout attempt, you’ll be hard pressed to anyone so automatic for a multi-week stretch again. That he’s picked up all of Toronto’s game winning goals so far in open play is honestly remarkable.
- Keith Pelley is going to be thrilled to see Borgesi on the board. All jokes aside, there have been little bits and pieces I’ve liked about his game since he joined the Marlies late last season and it’s nice to see him be rewarded with a goal, in a game where he got some real deployment and was on the right side of the shot counter, no less.
- A pretty successful first weekend for Aatu Raty, all things considered, with assists in each game, good possession numbers, and being his dominant self at the faceoff dot.
- Dakota Joshua began his conditioning stint on Sunday, as he looks to return to the NHL following a “core” injury. He played in a little over seventeen minutes of action and wasn’t the most noticable, though the time off that he’s had, he can be afforded a break-in period. That’s what he’s down there for, after all.
Coming Up Next
| Date | Time | Opponent (Affiliate, Record) |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, Oct 21 | 7:00 p.m. | vs. Hamilton Hammers (NYI, 1-4-1) |
| Saturday, Oct 24 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. Rockford IceHogs (CHI, 1-5-0) |
| Sunday, Oct 25 | 4:00 p.m. | vs. Rockford Icehogs (CHI, 1-5-0) |
Toronto is hanging out at home this week, with a mid-week evening game against the already-very-famliar Hamilton Hammers followed by back-to-back home games against the Rockford IceHogs on the weekend.
By records, this is a pretty light week. After winning their season opener, the Hammers lost three consecutive games to the Marlies, and haven’t had their fortunes improved by facing new opponents, falling 4-1 to Rochester and 4-3 to Syracuse last weekend. Liam Foudy is the team’s top point-getter out of the gate with three goals and four assists in five games. Mitchel Chaffee was the team’s top goal-scorer with four in six games, but a call up to the Islanders makes him unavailable tonight. Toronto’s last game against Hamilton saw them win 5-2 on the back of a Brendan Brisson hat trick.
The Marlies haven’t faced Rockford yet this year – nor have they since March of 2023, making serious discourse about their last matchup pretty unhelpful. The IceHogs have had a tough start to their year, losing to Milwaukee in their opener, losing two of three against Iowa, and falling in both games against Grand Rapids. Former Marlies forward Brett Sney leads the team in points with two goals and four assists in six games, and way-back-when Leafs draft pick Dominic Toninato also features on the team.
Personally, I’m excited to see a few of Chicago’s prospects – former Brantford Bulldogs Nick Lardis and Marek Vanacker, and Paul Ludwinski, who missed most of last season with a knee injury. Ludwinski was a favourite of mine in his U16 GTHL season, so getting to see him again in a pro environment will be fun.
Header photo from Flickr / Toronto Marlies. Analytics derived from personal tracking and/or data sourced from InStat.
