Marlies’ Report: Steeves and Three of Four Points from Checkers

The Toronto Marlies made the long trip to North Carolina to take on the Charlotte Checkers and came away with three out of a possible four points. The Marlies beat the Checkers 4-3 on Saturday but lost 5-4 in overtime on Sunday. Alex Steeves came up big in both games, earning his emergency call-up on Tuesday to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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Marlies 4, Charlotte Checkers 3

Alex Steeves — who just got called up to the Maple Leafs on Tuesday — scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner on a one-timer from the face-off dot to the right of Checkers’ goalie with one second left on a power play at 13:46 of the 3rd period. Joseph Blandisi had tied the game shorthanded when he intercepted a drop pass by Michael Benning in the Charlotte zone, walked in, and beat Driedger high over his glove. 

Logan Shaw had given the Marlies a 1-0 to open the scoring at 8:03 of the first period. Fraser Minton picked up his first point on the play in his first professional game. He was coming off a high ankle strain that had kept him out of training camp and the start of the season. After Aiden McDonough tied the game, Steeves gave the Marlies a 2-1 lead 52 seconds into the 2nd period with another one-timer from the same ice area as his game-winner. The Checkers took a 3-2 lead into the third period on another goal by McDonough and one by Ryan McAllister.

Toronto kept its perfect penalty-killing record alive, killing all three of its shorthanded situations. It also scored two power-play goals and a shorthanded one. As of Saturday’s game, the PK had not allowed a goal. However, it had scored six goals due to being shorthanded. Three came while the penalty was being killed, and three more were made by the player exiting the penalty box.

Dennis Hildeby would stop 28 of 31 shots to pick up his second win in as many starts with the Marlies after starting the season with the Maple Leafs. 

Charlotte Checkers 5, Marlies 4 OT

It is funny how things go. After being perfect on the penalty kill through nine games, not only did the Marlies finally give up a power-play goal in this game. They gave up four of them. Charlotte has the best power play in the AHL. It clicks at over 40% and scored four times on seven chances in this game. The Marlies had two power-play goals of their own on four chances. The first six goals in this game were scored with the man advantage.

The Marlies had to come back from a 4-2 deficit in the third period to earn a point in the game. 

After scoring two goals in the first game in Charlotte the day before, Alex Steeves was in on every goal the Marlies scored in this game. He scored two himself and added two assists. Steeves’ biggest weapon has become the one-timer from inside the face-off circle to the left of the opposing goalie. After scoring two goals in the game, he scored two similar goals on a one-timer from that location. Joseph Blandisi tipped the first one-timer. The second one, which tied the game at 4-4 late in the 3rd period, was a one-timer that beat Checkers goalie Ken Appleby cleanly. Steeves also assisted on Nikita Grebenkin’s goal in the second period. Steeves scored the 3rd and 4th Toronto goals that tied the game.

Marlies Goalie Artur Akhtyamov Gave Up Five Goals in the Net

After the Marlies killed off a penalty by Steeves in the overtime, John Leonard scored the game-winner. I am sure Marlies goalie Artur Akhtyamov would love to have the goal back. After receiving a pass from Matt Kiersted, it appeared that Leonard was too deep in the corner to the right of Akhtyamov to get a shot off. It looked like he would pass the puck back to Kiersted, who was open in the slot. Instead, Leonard fired a bad-angle shot along the ice that went under a startled Akhtyamov into the net.

This was Akhtyamov’s first overtime game since joining the Marlies. It might have been considered a bad game, as he gave up five goals on 31 shots. However, Akhtyamov has still not lost a game in regulation. He has a 4-0-1 record in five starts with a .917 SV% and a 2.14 GAA. 

Marlies’ Player Highlights

Steeves was in on six of the eight goals the Marlies scored this weekend. He scored four of them and assisted on two others to give him six points over the two games. Steeves now has nine goals in ten games. He’s in a three-way tie for 2nd place in AHL goal-scoring along with the Checkers’ McDonough and Ethan Frank of the Hershey Bears. They are all one goal behind Rory Kerins of the Calgary Wranglers. Steeves also leads the Marlies in points with 12, three more than Logan Shaw and Nikita Grebenkin. Grebenkin had a goal and two assists this weekend. Blandisi had two goals, and Minten had two assists.

Minton was not given any time to work into the lineup. Instead, he was thrown right into the fire on a line by Steeves and Grebenkin. He was also put on top of the power play unit. As you might expect from a player who hadn’t played since mid-September, Minton’s timing was a little off early in the first game. However, the Minton/Steeves/Grebenkin line was dominant in game #2. Minton was impressive in the second game in how he skated with the puck and his shot. He could have easily had a goal or two. He rang one shot off the post and missed the net, another glorious chance.

Jani Hakanpaa Played on Saturday

While Jani Hakanpaa played on Saturday, he was not dressed for the Sunday game. On Monday, Hakanpaa skated as the Maple Leafs’ seventh defenseman in practice but was not yet activated off of LTIR. In his two games with the Marlies, Hakanpaa did not stand out at all. He did not show any of the physicality he has been noted for in his career. That could be because they don’t want him to risk re-injuring the knee that has kept him out for most of 2024. He might also not be ready to come back quite yet. 

Other Marlies’ Player Notes

News about AHL teams is difficult to come by. I wasn’t aware of this until he returned in Sunday’s game, but Ryan Tverberg was suspended for a game because of an elbow he threw against Cleveland last weekend. I don’t remember seeing the play, and Tverberg was not penalized in the game. Cedric Pare is out from week to week due to a lower-body injury. Nicolas Mattinen returned to this game after being out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. 

What’s Next for the Marlies?

The Marlies play a rare weekday game as they make a stopover in Cleveland to take on the Monsters on their way back North. Last weekend, the Monsters served up the Marlies’ only regulation loss, 4-2. On Saturday, Toronto then returns home for an early afternoon game (1:30 p.m.) against the Belleville Senators. That game will be played at the Scotiabank Arena, followed by a 4:00 p.m. game at the Coca-Cola Coliseum against the Rochester Americans on Sunday.

Related: Simon Benoit Makes Case on a Crowded Maple Leafs’ Blue Line