It only took 2:43 for the Toronto Marlies to turn a hard-fought, scratch-and-claw victory into a stunning 2-1 overtime loss to the Cleveland Monsters. The Marlies were never dominant in this game, but a first period goal from Mason Marchment allowed the team to stay one step ahead of the Monsters for the majority of the game.

Unfortunately, Sonny Milano and Mark Letestu broke through the defensive blockade in front of goaltender Eamon McAdam and stole a shut out and a win from the young goaltender and his team.

The Team

The Toronto Marlies iced the same lineup that faced the same Cleveland Monsters on Friday. With the injuries to Adam Cracknell, Emerson Clark, and the loss of Frederik Gauthier to the NHL, Some of the regular forward duos have been split up as well as some of the regular scratches are getting consistent games. Greening and Jooris have had to be split up to each play center, while Dicky Clune has gotten in his first three games in the last five.

On defense, things seem to have settled into a nice system. Rosen and Liljegren are the first pair, and will be for much of the season. The rookie Rasmus Sandin has found himself a nice niche paired with the team babysitter in Vincent LoVerde. LoVerde will take on a heavy burden on the penalty kill, limiting his 5-on-5 time, but to make up for that lost time, Sandin has been getting power play time, along with 4-on-4 and other offensive situations. Andreas Borgman plays a lot more for a third pair player than Corrado does. He was seen taking spot shifts with LoVerde and/or Rosen. I haven’t been able to get a straight answer out of Sheldon Keefe with respect to Borgman, I wonder how the team and organization view him.

Once again, Eamon McAdam is in the net for the Marlies. Over the past few weeks, McAdam appears to have taken the #1 job from Kasimir Kaskisuo. Whether or not his save percentage is high, McAdam has been able to keep his team in games and ahead. That’s something that cannot be said for Kaskisuo. This isn’t to write-off the college free-agent. It’s a long season and all goaltenders have their ebbs and flows. It’s tough to play well when you join a new team and get injured right after a handful or terrible outings.

Forwards

Dmytro Timashov - Chris Mueller - Jeremy Bracco
Pierre Engvall - Josh Jooris - Carl Grundstorm
Mason Marchment - Adam Brooks - Trevor Moore
Rich Clune - Colin Greening - Griffen Molino

Defense

Calle Rosen - Timothy Liljegren
Rasmus Sandin - Vincent LoVerde
Andreas Borgman - Frank Corrado

Goalies

Eamon McAdam
Kasimir Kaskisuo

The Game

First Period

The first thing to notice in the game is that the rookie Sandin is starting to get power play time with the first unit of Engvall, Bracco, Mueller, and Grundstrom. This was Rosen or Liljegren’s spot, but since they’ve been getting some taxing minutes at even strength, it seems logical to spread out the minutes. It allows Sandin to play some more on the power play while his partner LoVerde takes on a big role with the penalty kill.

1-0

Marchment seriously cannot be stopped. Literally moments after he got into a post-whistle kerfuffle beside the Cleveland Monsters’ net, he snipes from a small pocket in the slot to the top corner on the short side to beat JF Berube. Assists go to Brooks for giving him the perfect pass from the corner, and Liljegren.

Marchment has been so good at finding areas to use his great shot. He plays a heavy game when he’s in the mood, and knows how to play anywhere on the ice in the offensive zone. His goals have come from everywhere: in front of the net with his stick on the ice, off the rush from the left wing, from the point after rotating up to cover his defenseman, and at the top of the hashmarks like tonight.

Both Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas were in attendance for his two-goal, five-shot performance at Scotiabank Arena last Sunday, and the two were at the rink for this game as well. Could Marchment get a chance in the NHL? Give me your thoughts in the comments below!

After One

It was a pretty underwhelming period for the Marlies, to be honest. They had three power plays to Cleveland’s one, but they still trailed in shots 10-11. Grundstrom was doing what he is best at, which is shooting the puck hard and hitting people harder. One one shot in the period hit Berube in the shoulder and it sounded like it hurt a lot. His hit a few shifts later could also be heard throughout the arena. Marchment had the biggest chance, which ended up being the only goal of the period,

Second Period

Rasmus Sandin has been really impressive in this game. He’s having no problem facing the big guys in the AHL with his speed and positioning. He’s been able to beat 6’3” Ryan MacInnis and 6’4” Kevin Stenlund in battles for the puck and push the play forward. He jumped up in the rush on a play nine minutes into the period and drew a tripping penalty on Stenlund.

BUT!

Before anyone gets ahead of themselves, I must caveat my words with the fact that I don’t think Sandin will see the NHL in 2018 or 2019. He’s been able to use his speed and wits to beat bigger players on the ice, but the men in the NHL are not only bigger, but they’re faster and smarter too. It’ll take some time for the slim 6’0” teenager to fill into his body.

The future is bright with Sandin and we should be very excited.

After Two

The Marlies didn’t play all that great in the second period. They were out-shot 4-8 through 20 minutes and had to kill off a double minor to Trevor Moore (two minutes for Interference, and another two for complaining) and a hooking penalty to Bracco late in the period. They were never able to get going offensively and were lucky that Cleveland sniper Sonny Milano didn’t score on his many power play chances.

Third Period

The Marlies got into some more penalty trouble in the third as they tried to hold a slim 1-0 lead to the end. Eight minutes into a conservative period for both teams, LoVerde — the team’s most important penalty killer — got sent to the box for tripping, much to the fans’ dismay. He was followed by Borgman 92 seconds later after he got caught taking a high-sticking penalty that drew blood while on the kill.

The Marlies won the ensuing faceoff and killed the two-man disadvantage, and then worked hard to keep the puck out of the net with Borgman in the box. McAdam deserved a lot of credit for the kill, he held the fort extremely well against a barrage of shots for over five minutes.

1-1

Eamon McAdam was having a great game for the Marlies. He was perfect through 58:18 of the 60 minutes the game demands. But at that precise second, the Marlies couldn’t tie up the bodies in front and Milano tied the game.

Overtime

1-2

I don’t really know what happened on this play. I think it was Rosen who lost the stick of Mark Letestu in front. You can see for yourself on the video linked below. Frankly, I was too heartbroken for McAdam to analyze the goal. He deserved much better than the pity point tonight.

F*********CK.

After the Whistle

Highlights:

Mason Marchment:

Eamon McAdam:

Sheldon Keefe:

Toronto Marlies