Marlies Lose 4-3 To Hamilon

The Toronto Marlies and Hamilton Bulldogs face each each other too often. I lead with that as my opening paragraph too often. How about this; today was a game featuring two very fatigued teams. The Marlies have been everywhere in the league over the past month, with multiple road trips and crowded weekends. The Bulldogs just played a game in Ottawa last tnight. This wasn’t going to be a game where speed killed, but rather an endurance war. Despite a hot start by the Marlies, this game fell in favour of their cross-highway rivals, with a score of 4-3. 

The first period started off with cause for optimism, as Jerry D’Amigo scored his 11th goal of the season just 51 seconds after opening puck drop. For the first four minutes, the Marlies were the only team to get a shot on net, but the tables were soon to be turned. Jarred Tinordi made proper use of a pinch by streaking down the left wing and firing a snapshot past Drew MacIntyre at the five minute mark. Midway through the period, Toronto ran into some penalty trouble. Jerred Smithson went to the box for hooking, followed by Kenny Ryan earning himself two minutes for a faceoff infraction. During this penalty kill, a scramble in front of the Toronto net turned into a goal for Sven Andrighetto, who turned a loose puck into his 11th of th eyear.

The second period continued to be controlled by the Bulldogs. A scary moment came at the four minute mark, when Hamilton Defenceman Drew Scheistel hit Jerry D’Amigo from behind and he struggled to get back to his feet for over a minute. Toronto was unable to strike on the five minute powerplay, but when Andrew MacWilliam found his way to the box, Mike Blunden extended Hamilton’s lead to 3-1. David Broll took a double minor for high sticking a few minutes later, but nothing came out of it.

The Marlies needed a hot start to begin the first period, and got the opposite. Andrighetto gave the broadcast their highlight of the night just a minute into the third, scoring his second off a pretty individual effort. From there, the Marlies pushed to chip away at the 4-1 lead. They had some success, with Greg McKegg scoring at the eight and a half minute mark, and tapping home a loose rebound with 47 seconds to go, but it wasn’t enough to complete the comeback.

To be added later