The Marlies won the middle game of their three games in three game weekend tonight, defeating the Manitoba Moose 4-2. It was a hard fought win with Antoine Bibeau performing well in net. He stopped 28 of 30 SOG, and both shots that made it in to the net were on a penalty kill.

Special teams were indeed the story of the night. The Marlies took 10 minor penalties in the game, and the Moose received 7. There was quite a bit of cross-checking, pushing and shoving by both teams around the creases, and several post-whistle scrums.

The Moose are not in the Marlies division, but they will still face them in eight games this season. Last season they also played each other in eight games, and the Marlies won seven of them.

There are a few changes to the Moose that the Marlies are watching out for this year. Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe noted the most important change was at the top. Keith McCambridge was not brought back as head coach, a move the Winnipeg Free Press thought was “surprising” though I don’t know how it could be when they had only 26 regulation wins in 76 games, which was somehow not even the worst in their division, with the Iowa Wild getting only 24.

The new Moose coach is Pascal Vincent, who had been an assistant coach with the Winnipeg Jets for many years. I assume this is a move by Jets management to get “their guy” down on the farm and align the systems.

As far as Jets draft picks, obviously first round selection Laine is up with the big club. Beyond that they are all back in junior or with other clubs. The only notable addition is Ondrej Pavelec, waived by the Jets before the start of the season and claimed by no one, he will likely start Sunday’s game.

On the Marlies side a notable scratch was Nikita Soshnikov. There was no word if it is possibly related to his injury (I forgot to ask,) but it is curious as to why he is still out.  Dickey Clune was also scratched along with three players who have yet to make it in to a game: Magio, Marchment, and Wrenn.

First Period

He’s the veteran whose value we thought was supposed to be about his presence and insight in the room. Don’t forget he also scores goals.

Then the Marlies scored the second goal when Leipsic took advantage of the Moose deciding they should all fall down go boom.

The first period ended with two penalties to the Marlies in less than a minute which left them on a 5 on 3. Nick Petan of the Moose took advantage and knocked the puck past Bibeau.

Second Period

This was a crazy period with both the Marlies and Moose each taking four minor penalties, one of which was compounded for the Marlies by a follow-up fight by Rinat Valiev against Patrice Cormier.

The star of the period was Andrew Nielsen. Right from the start I noticed him working hard to keep the attack going and prevent the Moose from getting out of their zone. In fact the first few minutes of the period was the high point of the Marlies offence in the game that I saw, and Nielsen was a large part of assisting in that.

13 minutes in to the period he ripped a hard and perfectly on target slap shot from the blue line that went in the net. Byron Froese tipped it at the last moment and got the credit, but looking at the replay I think it would have gone in anyway.

Third Period

There were several more penalties including a late one which lead to a rather dramatic ending. With 100 seconds left in the game Viktor Loov was sent to the box for high-sticking penalty. The Marlies had a tenuous 3-2 lead, but the Moose now pulled their goalie and had a 6 on 4 advantage.

It didn’t last long.

Trying to skate in the puck on an attack (something we always recommend!) the Moose’s Jack Roslovic was stripped of the puck along the center line and it popped right on to the sitck of Froese. He hit the gas and nailed the shot into the empty net as the Moose defenders, resigned to not being able to catch up, simply watched.

The Marlies won 4-2.

Player Observations

Byron Froese: Froese scored two goals and otherwise played well offensively, but let’s put in in perspective. His first goal was a tip-in from a slap shot by Nielsen that could well have broken the sound barrier. His second goal was on an empty net after he stripped the puck from a Moose player who badly flubbed at the red line. I am not saying he’s awful or something, not at all, but don’t get excited over these particular two goals.

Brooks Laich and Kasperi Kapanen: Kapanen has played with Gauthier so far this season, with Soshnikov on the other side when he has been in the line up. Tonight he was paired instead with Laich and Greening, and Laich specifically on the penalty kill. I asked Keefe why the change and he was a bit cagey, saying

“I just decided to change things up in game. Not a lot was happening for us as a group. I just wanted to mix things up a little bit and try that out. I thought Kappy’s legs could really pair well with those guys.”

“I thought it was fine. There wasn’t a whole lot of offence going on for our team here today, but it was enough for us to get the win.”

Andreas Johnsson: He’s as offensively gifted as advertised, and has amazing skating skill. There were times his skating ability alone allowed the Marlies to maintain possession of the puck on an attack as he easily outmaneuvered the Moose defence. I am not sure about his defensive ability yet. There were a few moments it seemed he had trouble getting the puck out of the zone without a turnover, but I have only now seen him in a handful of games. It is something to watch further to know for certain.

He does need to keep his head up when doing his fancy bobbing and weaving moves for the benefit of his teammates. Some fancy footwork tonight led him to evade a Moose defender, but then crash right into Viktor Loov, which I imagine has to be like hitting a brick wall. Both were dazed, but okay after a few seconds.

Antoine Bibeau: Solid. He had a great game. There were a lot of turnovers in the neutral zone in the first period that led to some high danger scoring chances by the Moose; he stopped them all. He was also great in the penalty kill in the final minute of the game.

The Marlies Power Play: This needs some work. They didn’t convert on any of their chances. Rychel had some time on one of the units but I did not see him do anything notable.

Here are your game highlights, courtesy of Marlies TV.

The Marlies next game is Sunday, completing the three-in-three, again vs. the Moose, starting at 5:00PM.

Here are the full post-game comments from Keefe.

Toronto Marlies