The Toronto Marlies closed out their annual boat show road trip today, picking up a point in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Cleveland Monsters.
Ben Harpur opened the scoring at 14:25 of the first period, kickstarting a scoring frenzy with his first of the season. Pontus Aberg and Darren Archibald assisted on the opening goal. 30 seconds after Harpur’s goal, Nic Petan launched a one-timer from the point to put the Marlies ahead 2-0. Kristians Rubins and Aberg picked up the assists on Petan’s ninth of the season. 13 seconds after Petan’s goal, Cleveland’s Derek Barach brought the home crowd to their feet, getting the Monsters on the board and cutting the Marlies’ lead in half. 19 seconds after Cleveland’s goal, Tanner MacMaster tapped one in from the side of the goal to restore the Marlies’ two-goal lead. Garrett Wilson and Mac Hollowell assisted on MacMaster’s ninth of the season. The Marlies’ three goals in one minute chased Veini Vehvilainen from between the pipes as Matiss Kivlenieks entered the game in relief. Again, the Monsters were quick to respond and closed the gap with just over a minute remaining in the period. Toronto had an 11-10 edge in shots on goal in the opening 20 minutes and held a one-goal lead heading into the first intermission.
The Marlies held the Monsters to only four shots on goal in the second period, while they tested Kivlenieks with 15 shots but couldn’t find the back of the net. The score remained 3-2 after 40 minutes of play.
The Monsters pulled ahead at the halfway mark of the final period, netting back-to-back goals 10 seconds apart to make it 4-3. The Marlies kept up their pressure and it paid off at 15:39 when Kenny Agostino wired a one-timer from inside the faceoff circle to even the score 4-4. Aberg and Mac Hollowell assisted on Agostino’s 21st of the season. The game remained tied at the end of regulation.
The Marlies were called on a tripping penalty just 55 seconds into overtime, resulting in 4-on-3 action for two minutes. The penalty kill went to work and killed off the infraction, but the Monsters converted shortly after the penalty expired to come away with the two points.
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