The Toronto Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, completed their 10-game, 22-day West Coast road trip by picking up three out of four points in their final two games. They completed their season’s sweep of the San Diego Gulls with a 3-1 victory on Friday night. They then scored two late goals to come from being down 2-0 against the Bakersfield Condors on Sunday night and send the contest beyond regulation but ultimately lost in a shootout.
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They finished the extended road trip with an amazing 7-2-1 record.
Game 1: Marlies 3, San Diego Gulls 1
Alex Nylander broke out of his recent scoring slump by scoring a pair of goals and Alex Steeves continued his record-setting season with his 24th goal in his 33rd game. As well, Dennis Hildeby stopped 19 of the 20 shots he faced to give the Marlies the 3-1 win over the Gulls.
After a scoreless first period, Nylander and Steeves scored about 2-and-a-half minutes apart to give the Marlies a 2-0 lead. That two-goal lead lasted nine seconds before Jan Mysak got the Gulls on the scoreboard. The Marlies’ strong defensive play, backed by Hildeby, shut the San Diego offense down the rest of the way. Nylander would add a five-on-three power-play goal late in the third period to put the game away in favour of the Marlies.
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After two periods, the 2-1 score flattered the Gulls as the Marlies held them to just eight shots over the first forty minutes while directing 20 shots on the San Diego net. The Marlies took their foot off the gas, and the Gulls came on strong in the third. They looked like they might mount a comeback until they took a too-many-men and a tripping penalty 41 seconds apart with just over four minutes to go in the third period.
The win was the Marlies’ fourth over the Gulls, a team they had never met prior to 2024-25. Toronto took two home games from them back in October.
Game 2: Bakersfield Condors 3, Marlies 2 SO
While the Marlies players probably enjoyed a trip to the Californian sun in January, travelling cross-country and playing every second day for three weeks must take its toll on them. They looked like a tired team for the first 46 minutes of this game. Once again, the first period was scoreless, but this time, the opposition scored twice in the second period to take a 2-0 lead. The Marlies didn’t look like they had enough left in the tank to mount any comeback until Cedric Pare tipped a backhand shot by Jacob Quillan past Condor goalie Olivier Rodrigue at 6:26 of the third period.
Derek Ryan took a holding penalty just 19 seconds after that, giving the Marlies a power play. Thirteen seconds later, Steeves blasted a one-timer from the faceoff dot to the left of Rodrigue past him before he had a chance to move to cover it. That spot has become Steeves’ office, as many of his goals have come from one-timers from that location this season.
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The rest of the regulation and five minutes of three-on-three overtime solved nothing. The Condors’ Jacob Perreault was the only shooter on either team to score in the shootout, giving Bakersfield the 3-2 win.
Individual Highlights for the Marlies
The four players who tallied multiple points over the two games are the top four Marlies scoring this season. Steeves added two goals to his league lead, giving him 25 goals in 34 games. That’s two more goals than second-place Isak Rosen of the Rochester Americans in six fewer games played. Steeves is also fourth in overall AHL scoring with 40 points. He is five points out of first place but has played seven fewer games than the points leader.
Nylander scored his 15th and 16th goals of the season and sits second on the Marlies scoring list with 28 points, 12 points fewer than Steeves. Nick Abruzzese had three assists on the weekend to sit third with 26 points. Logan Shaw added two assists to his team lead and has 18 assists on the season. He sits fourth with 23 points.
Hildeby improved his record to 7-2-2 in 11 appearances and sports a .914 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.39 goals against average (GAA.) Artur Akhtyamov lost the shootout in his second appearance since returning from an injury. The rookie has put up respectable numbers in his first professional season with a 9-4-2 record, 2.76 GAA, and a .900 SV%.
All but three Marlies will be heading home following the long trip. Steeves, Shaw, and Hildeby will spend a few more days on the West Coast as they have been selected to the AHL’s East Division All Star team. The Coachella Valley Firebirds are hosting this year’s event. Steeves and Shaw were added to the team a while ago while was added just this weekend.
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Hildeby’s addition is puzzling. He has only played 11 games and does not even have the required number of games to be listed on their top goalie’s list. Even if he did have enough games, he is 10th in the league in both SV% and GAA.
We can’t help but wonder if it is a case of Hildeby being in the right place at the right time. He was added the day before the event being held on the West Coast was scheduled to begin, and he just happened to be on the West Coast. Hildeby’s numbers are decent, but they are not what would be expected of a player selected to be an all-star. But it’s good for him and marks the second year in a row he’s cracked the team.
What’s Next for the Marlies?
The rest of the team gets this week to return home, rest, and get over their jet lag. They play two games at home this weekend as they host the Laval Rocket twice. If the Marlies aspire to win the division, this could be a key weekend for them as the Rocket lead the division with 59 points. The Marlies are five points behind them with a game in hand, meaning two wins would put them just a point back of Laval still with a game in hand. On the other hand, two losses would drop them nine points behind .
With the Maple Leafs and the Marlies getting healthier, they should be able to ice pretty close to their optimal lineup against the Rocket. Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin should be back, and Quillan returned last game.
[Note: I want to thank long-time Maple Leafs fan Stan Smith for collaborating with me on this post. Stan’s Facebook profile can be found here.]
