Vinni Borgesi finally broke through, but the Toronto Marlies couldn’t turn that lone bright spot into a home win.
Belleville left Toronto with a 3-2 regulation victory, and the visitors earned it by doing the harder work for longer stretches. The Senators controlled enough of the night to hold the Marlies to 22 recorded shots, and Toronto never found a consistent enough five-on-five push to make up for it.
“It was a low-event game. I felt like we weren’t on our game for the first eight minutes.
We allowed them to tiptoe their way in. We missed the net a lot, so that’s one area we are going to look at.”
Toronto had an early power play to settle in, but Brendan Brisson fired wide and Logan Shaw’s attempt was handled without much trouble. Belleville then began to take over at even strength, forcing the Marlies into their own end and drawing a penalty after sustained pressure.
The Senators didn’t score on that first power play, but they struck soon after. At the eight-minute mark, a Marlies turnover in the defensive zone opened the door for Sammy Blais, who took a sharp pass low and lifted a shot over Artur Akhtyamov.
Toronto tried to answer with a little edge. Landon Sim dropped the gloves with Lucas Ellinas and won the fight decisively, giving his bench a jolt.
But the chances that followed went nowhere: Aatu Räty, Ryan Tverberg, Ben Danford and Brisson all had quality looks and couldn’t finish. Jonas Johansson wasn’t asked to do much, though he did get a bit of fortune with two minutes left in the period.
Brisson also had perhaps the Marlies’ best look of the opening frame, jumping on a turnover, driving down the left side and cutting across the crease before ringing a shot off the post.
Belleville pushed its lead to two nine minutes into the second period on the power play. The penalty call on Marc Johnstone came with plenty of frustration around it, as Scott Harrington’s stick got lifted and the officials called tripping. Toronto was caught scrambling after a line change, and Phil Tomasino made them pay with a clean finish.
That could have been the point where the Marlies drifted, but they got the response they needed shortly after. Räty won an offensive-zone draw to Vinni Borgesi, who took a few strides to his right and snapped a wrist shot over Johansson’s blocker for his first AHL goal.
Toronto had chances to tie it from there. Noah Chadwick hammered a shot off the iron from the left circle, and later in the period Tverberg and Luke Haymes combined nicely to create a look for Brisson in the slot. He missed wide.
The third period never really tilted fully in Toronto’s favor, even after the Marlies earned an early power play. Belleville’s urgency showed, and the Senators outworked Toronto enough to keep the home team from building sustained pressure.
Sim had another opportunity after a defensive-zone turnover, but he couldn’t finish from close range. Borgesi and Chadwick continued to look dangerous in spurts, though neither converted after another strong shift from the youngsters.
Midway through the period, Akhtyamov made a big stop on Kasper Halttunen that looked like it might change the night. It didn’t.
Borya Valis and Brisson both had rebound chances denied before Toronto pulled Akhtyamov, and the final push never really got going. Belleville later created a 2-on-0 into the empty net.
Brisson did give Toronto life with 48 seconds left, working through traffic and sneaking a low shot past Johansson to make it a one-goal game. The Marlies then restarted play with an extra attacker off the center-ice faceoff, and it immediately blew up when they lost the draw. Scott Harrington scored from the red line to seal it for the Senators.
The loss snapped Toronto’s four-game winning streak, dropping the Marlies to 4-2-0. They went 1-for-4 on the power play without Vinni Lettieri and finished 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Borgesi’s night stood out well beyond the goal. He’s now up to four points - 1 goal and 3 assists - in three games, and the way he’s playing has already made an impression.
“I think he gets better and better all over,” said Sullivan of Borgesi. “Obviously, we knew he was an offensive defenseman, but the way he defends with his feet, he’s got a good stick.
He’s made an impact for us. A pleasant surprise in regard to him stepping in and fighting to stay in the lineup every single night.
Happy for him that he gets his goal here because I thought he had some really good chances in the other games, too. Good for him.”
Dakota Joshua’s night was quieter, and Sullivan said he looked like a player who hasn’t played a competitive game since April.
Brisson kept his scoring run rolling, stretching his point streak to five games with 7 goals and 3 assists. Beyond the production, he also had a couple of solid defensive plays, something the staff has been watching closely.
Ben Danford and Ryan Tverberg led the Marlies with five and four shots, respectively.
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