Marlies Outpace T-Birds in Wild School Day Affair

TORONTO, ON -- The Springfield Thunderbirds (29-31-3-2) could not keep pace with the Toronto Marlies (31-22-9-2) in a wild 6-3 game on Wednesday morning at Coca-Cola Coliseum.

With nearly 7,000 school students in attendance in the raucous atmosphere, the Marlies made their young fans happy just 2:01 into the game when Mikko Kokkonen fired a slapper through traffic past Vadim Zherenko following a clean win off an offensive zone draw by Logan Shaw. 

The T-Birds were unable to register any shots on Dennis Hildeby until the 8:28 mark of the first when Ryan Suzuki made good on Springfield's first shot attempt. After Adam Gaudette and Hugh McGing won puck possession behind the Marlies goal line, McGing located Suzuki in the left circle, and the centerman one-timed it upstairs to even the score, 1-1. It was Suzuki's fourth consecutive game in the goal column. 

Unfortunately for the T-Birds, penalty trouble reared its head less than four minutes later, as two separate Springfield penalties gave Toronto an instant 5-on-3 advantage, and at the 12:07 mark, Shaw one-timed a Nick Abruzzese pass through Zherenko. Shaw's 27th of the season came just eight seconds into the two-man advantage, restoring the Marlies lead to 2-1.

The teams continued trading chances until only 1:10 remained in the first, when Alex Steeves squeezed a bad-angle shot through Zherenko's arm to push the Toronto lead to 3-1. Moments later, Jakub Vrana got loose behind the defense with a chance to cut into the lead, but Hildeby held his ground to maintain the two-goal lead through one period.

Vrana, however, would get his payback just 3:10 into the second, as he rifled home a one-time rocket on the power play to cut the deficit to 3-2.

As the game hit the midpoint of regulation, Vrana found himself in the action again. This time, the winger poked a loose puck ahead into the Marlies zone, split two defenders, raced in uncontested, and beat Hildeby again to get Springfield back even, 3-3, at 10:02. Vrana's two-goal period gave him five tallies in the T-Birds' last four games.

The 3-3 tie would only last 1:29, though, as Max Lajoie got one back for Toronto, racing in to clean up a loose puck in the blue paint after Zherenko made an initial save in close. The 4-3 score carried into the final period, and just 15 seconds into the third, Isaac Johnson found himself alone in the slot, and the rookie slipped a forehand attempt through Zherenko to put the Marlies back up by two, 5-3.

A little more than five minutes later, another faceoff win led to a Toronto goal when Marshall Rifai's left point shot ricocheted off of two sticks, resulting in a credited goal for Josiah Slavin and a 6-3 Marlies lead.

Things got testy as the third period progressed, and the Marlies gave Springfield a lifeline when Zach Solow committed four minutes in penalties in an altercation with Joey Duszak, giving Springfield a double-minor power play with just over six minutes left. Seconds after those penalties, Shaw got a minor penalty himself and the T-Birds had a two-man advantage for two full minutes. 

However, this time, the T-Birds ran out of offensive firepower, as Hildeby had an answer for all 16 third-period shots thrown his way, and Springfield never got any closer.

The T-Birds continue their Canadian road swing on Friday night with a visit to the Belleville Senators at 7:00 p.m. at CAA Arena.

Fans can reserve seats for Thunderbirds’ hockey action in the 2023-24 season by calling (413)-739-GOAL (4625) or visiting www.SpringfieldThunderbirds.com.