"Losing becomes a bad habit at any time of the season. The Toronto Marlies were delighted to snap out of a four-game losing skid, of which at least half were self-inflicted defeats. A fast start was critical, as was Artur Akhtyamov's performance in net and the Marlies ' willingness to grind and go toe-to-toe with a physical, hard-working Chicago team."
""It's been a tough couple of weeks for us. We've been shooting ourselves in the foot. I thought we were a lot stronger with our decisions and better on our forecheck. We were just better overall. [Akhtyamov] made some big saves in the third as well. I'm proud of our players to be able to dig in like that and get a huge victory for us."- John Gruden"
"Akhtyamov was called into action with 22 seconds on the clock when Blake Smith was caught napping and Ronan Seeley blew past him. The netminder was equal to the early breakaway chance to deny the Wolves a dream start. After gaining a foothold in the game, Toronto drew the first penalty. It was a dreadful initial effort on the power play,"
The Toronto Marlies snapped a four-game losing streak by starting fast, matching Chicago's physical play, and relying on strong goaltending from Artur Akhtyamov. Alex Nylander scored the opening goal following a controlled zone entry late in the first period. Akhtyamov denied an early breakaway and later turned aside high-danger chances from Justin Robidas, Noel Gunler, and Evan Vierling. Consecutive penalties limited Toronto's momentum but the penalty kill kept Chicago to the outside, preserving a narrow lead into the first intermission. Travis Boyd and Matthew Barbolini showed chemistry early in the second, creating dangerous chances and sustaining offensive pressure.
Read at Maple Leafs Hotstove
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