AHL recap: Toronto Marlies lose to Cleveland Monsters, defeat Springfield Thunderbirds
Let’s start with the shootout loss against the Monsters. Dennis Hildeby, who has impressed with a heavier-than-expected workload with the Leafs in 2025-26, started his first game back in the AHL and was solid despite the loss, with 31 saves on 33 shots. Jacob Quillan continued his AHL dominance with his ninth goal of the season, and Luke Haymes added the other goal to help the Marlies get off to a 2-0 lead. The Monsters would go on to tie the game with goals from prospect Luca Del Bel Belluz and then former Maple Leaf Zach Aston-Reese, who scored his first goal of the AHL season to even things up at 2 in the third period. Jack Williams scored the shootout winner to seal the deal for Cleveland.
Moving on to Saturday, the Marlies showed up with a vengeance and broke the game open in the first period, with Vinni Lettieri scoring the opening goal just over a minute into the game, and veterans Logan Shaw and Michael Pezzetta adding goals of their own before the end of the frame. The second period was without much activity aside from a late goal from Springfield’s Calle Rosen (remember him? Former Leaf). That was the extent of offence the Thunderbirds would provide, with Haymes scoring his second goal in as many games to make it 4-1 before an empty-netter from Benoit-Olivier Groulx icing the game with an empty-netter. Prospect Artur Akhtyamov stopped 29 of 30 shots en route to the win, while Groulx (1 goal, 2 assists) and defenceman Noah Chadwick (2 assists) had impressive nights of their own.
The Marlies will be off until Saturday, when they visit the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, the Laval Rocket. Following the three points this week, the Marlies are third in the North Division with a record of 23-15-4.