"After that shorthanded goal, we just seemed to not be able to recover, for whatever reason. We started pressing. We are not the type of team that can press like that. That's not how we have success, and it just got away from us. The one thing is that when things didn't go our way, we kind of stopped playing. We let guys beat us up ice, and that stuff just shouldn't happen."
"Those were candid words from the head coach after the game, more of which I'll post later in this recap. In a short and not-so-sweet post-game interview, Gruden was clearly irritated by the manner in which his team threw in the towel after allowing a shorthanded goal just past the midway mark en route to a 6-1 loss to Lehigh."
"The Marlies struggled to match Lehigh's forecheck and work rate in the opening frame. The Phantoms should have gone ahead within 30 seconds after a bad giveaway by Bo Groulx, but Vyacheslav Peksa robbed Jacob Goucher from the slot. Inevitably, Lehigh scored the opening goal after the Marlies were caught puck-watching while Lehigh attacked in transition. Cooper Marody was found in space down low, where, from a tight angle, he produced a nice finish into the top corner of the net."
The Marlies failed to match Lehigh's forecheck and work rate early, allowing Cooper Marody to score from a tight angle after a transition attack. Goaltender Vyacheslav Peksa kept Toronto afloat with several strong saves, including robbing Jacob Goucher and stopping multiple chances, while the fourth line and penalty kill produced a tying goal credited to Marc Johnstone. The contest opened up in the second period with several high-danger chances and continued with Peksa making key saves. A shorthanded goal past the midway mark triggered a collapse; the team began pressing, stopped executing its game, and ultimately fell 6-1.
Read at Maple Leafs Hotstove
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]