Marlies Marvel Mini Penguins

For the 2008-2009 Toronto Marlies, .500 play has been the norm. The battle of wins followed by losses has been waged quite often. Prior to this week, three of the Marlies' four wins were followed by a loss.


Now, it seems the Marlies have reached a breaking point. After dropping five straight decisions, the Marlies have now said "nough's enough" and responded.


The return of Jim Hughes has clearly sparked the defense. The Marlies have allowed an average of just 1.8 Goals Against per game in the past 5 games(I could do the research and tell you that is the best in the AHL, but for my blackberry's sake, lets just say it could be) which has directly correlated to wins.


Their latest win was a convincing defeat of last year's Calder Cup Finalists, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Justin Pogge was rock solid in net for the Marlies making 33 saves; many of which were of the highlight variety. Pogge is now exuding confidence in the Marlies goal, something that the Maple Leafs brass has been looking for all season.

The game saw a season best 5,306 fans in attendance(and no Bulldogs fans). The action was slow going for the first period but ramped up in the second when Ben Ondrus woke up the physical side of the game and connected with three big hits in one shift. Someone had to make up for Andre Deveaux being out of the game and the Marlies captain always knows when he is needed.

The game also saw Jiri Tlusty score his first goal of the season on a sizzling deflection from a Todd Perry point shot. Tlusty has had trouble adjusting this season, but if you're looking for a sign he's adjusted, this is definitely it.


As far as the Penguins go, a few interesting bright spots were prevalent. Luca Caputi was named second star of the game as this Toronto native put together a great effort for his first game back at home. Penguins star, Janne Pesonen played his first pro hockey game in Canada as well and showed why he lead the Finish league last year in points by tallying an assist.


The Marlies now look to add to their three game winning streak on Wednesday when they take on the Rochester Americans in the season's first School Day Game presented by D.A.R.E. of the Halton region. The game will be played infront of a full house at 11:30 AM at Ricoh Coliseum.