It was somewhat fitting, then, when the first defeat of 2016-17 was due to a repeat of those issues for another young, talented Marlies club.
First Period
The opening period featured just ten shots on net — three of those by the hosts, who really should have opened the scoring inside the opening four minutes: Cole Schneider failed to hit the target with a one-timer from the slot after Toronto failed to clear their own zone on multiple occasions; Hudson Fasching and Evan Rodrigues were the next to waste opportunities in front of the scrambling Garret Sparks, and Schneider fired wide on a giveaway before taking the first penalty of the game that sent the Marlies to the powerplay.