Marlies Fall 2-1 to Utica

After a close exhibition match against Farjestad BK, it was time for the Toronto Marlies to kick off the part of their weekend that involves actual points on the standings. With a key few names back in the lineup, things were looking bright for the blue and white as they took on the Utica Comets, affiliates of the Vancouver Canucks. The result, however, was not what they were looking for, as a last minute goal gave Toronto a 2-1 loss.

While the two teams traded chances, the Marlies were the first to get a prime opportunity to score when Patrick Kennedy and Yann Sauve headed to the penalty box just five seconds apart from each other. The main powerplay unit had control for the entire two minutes, but struggled to get shots to actually hit the net and skated away empty handed. A few minutes after the fact, Utica had their chance with an extra man, and converted in just nine seconds, putting them ahead.

Toronto had their second opportunity of with two extra men about five minutes into the second period. While it would move to 5-on-4, Brandon Kozun deflected a T.J. Brennan slapshot past Joe Cannata to tie the game at two. The Marlies had two more chances to tie the game with an extra man before the period closed, but to no avail. 

The third was all Utica for the first fifteen minutes, until Nicklas Jensen went to the box, giving Toronto a late game powerplay and an opportunity to move ahead. If the game was scored by Corsi, they would’ve won on this man advantage, but most of the shots were blocked or went wide. As Jensen left the box, the tide shifted once again towards the Comets. As the clock approached zero, an Alex Biega point shot was tipped by Pascal Pelletier and into the back of the net. The Marlies called a time out, MacIntyre left the net, and Stuart Percy dove to stop a shot headed towards an empty net, but the game ended with the Comets on top.