The Toronto Marlies took on the Montreal Canadiens tonight, don’t believe me? Here are the rosters.

This graphic just about sums it up.

Ooph. So, in lieu of a minute by minute recap, I’ll let you know my highlights of this AHL/ECHL vs NHL/AHL game. I’m going to try as hard as the Habs tonight.

Player Highlights

Egor Korshkov

Korshkov played well with Tyler Gaudet, and the two of them almost combined for an early goal against Canadiens goalie Charlie Lindgren. They try again off the face off but can’t finish the job.

He scores twice in this game, both good looking goals too.

Jeremy Bracco

Bracco had some good chemistry with Adam Brooks. They had some good passing and almost scored.

Justin Holl

Holl was an alternate captain in this game, and had some good defensive play in the Leafs end. Nothing flashy, but good play.

Michael Hutchinson

He had an easy time in goal, but made saves when needed, and he’s going to be our back up so it was nice to see him do his job and get the shutout.

Nick Shore & Matt Read

They had some good passing when they were out there together on the penalty kill. Almost scored a two on one short handed goal. Really made the Habs power play look bad.

Pierre Engvall

Riley Barber was called for hooking Engvall, but it didn’t look like Pierre noticed. Didn’t break his stride as he had the Habs defender hanging off him.

Darren Archibald

Scores and then celebrates by jumping on the Habs goalie.

The Nic/ks

Nic Petan is set up for a good try at a five hole goal. Nick Shore later on gets a good pass from Petan for another almost goal.

The Penalty Kill

Kept the Habs off the score sheet, 0/4 on the night. Did a good job of keeping the passing lanes blocked.

Player Nolights

Timothy Liljegren

Wasn’t very noticeable aside from his ability to take a hit. Not noticing a defender isn’t a bad thing though.

The Power Play

Meh, couldn’t score on a 5 on 3.  Went 1/5 on the night.

Player Lowlights

Claude Julien

Challenges the Archibald goal and loses, so he gets a bench minor for wasting everyone's time.

Ben Harpur

Sloppy play. Can’t skate well. Tried to steal the puck from his own teammate.

Jordan Schmaltz

He was going for a nolight tonight, but a big giveaway in front of the Leafs net to Thomas Tatar was a big no-no.

In the second period he was skating along the boards, but left the puck behind. Took a couple seconds to remember to go back for it.

Overall, this game was a bit of a snoozer to me, but I don’t watch many Marlies games, or maybe I just wasn’t in the mood. What I did learn was the Korshkov is as close to an NHL spot as he could be. I’m sure soon enough we’ll all be saying “DeBrin-who?”

The next pre-season game is Wednesday night at 7, and I’ll assume it will be a Maple Leafs vs Laval Rocket game. That should be a lot of fun.

Game Coverage