It proved to be a tale of goaltending, special teams and missed opportunities as Toronto fell in regulation at home for the first time in 2016.

Garret Sparks had a game to forget, allowing a goal on the very first shot he faced during an opening period dominated by the home team.

After relinquishing control of the puck in the first couple of minutes, Hershey scored on their first foray into Toronto’s zone. Jakub Vrana drove the play before his drop pass at the bottom of the right circle found Chris Borque. The league’s leading scorer beat Sparks short-side, top shelf with a good shot but certainly not an unstoppable one.

The Marlies continued to own the puck and drew the first penalty seven minutes in. Far too cute for their own good, Toronto’s best chance came shortly after the penalty expired, but goaltender Dan Ellis poke-checked Kasperi Kapanen while in on goal.

Shortly after, Mike Moore laid a hit on Connor Brown by the boards, even though the Toronto winger hadn’t touched the puck. Jumping in to defend his teammate was James Martin, who dropped the mittens with Moore.

The fight seemed to energize the home team and fans, and Sam Carrick came close to tying the game with a backhand attempt. Nikita Soshnikov’s one time effort rattled off the crossbar on the powerplay. Tobias Lindberg then contrived to miss an easy chance as Toronto’s woes at 5 on 4 continue.

In the final seconds of the first period, with Toronto pressing hard, Soshnikov was pushed into Ellis by a Hershey defenseman, leaving them both on the deck. The puck fell to Brett Findlay and his goal-bound shot was inadvertently stopped by Soshnikov while laying on the goal line.

The shot clock emphasized the difference between the teams after 20 minutes, with the Marlies holding a 14-3 advantage but trailing where it mattered.

Sam Carrick is getting better in each game since his long layoff. Typical of his style, he battled to win possession on the half wall — despite being tired at the end of his shift — before throwing the puck on net. Ellis made the save but produced a rebound for Colin Smith waiting out in front. Smith will have to wait for his first Toronto goal as Ellis redeemed himself with a terrific second effort.

The home crowd didn’t have to wait much longer for the tying goal. David Kolomatis did a tremendous job of keeping the puck alive in Hershey’s zone before Frederik Gauthier dished it off to Soshnikov. We saw the Russian at his best as he weaved his way past two Hershey players down the right before driving to the net with another nice move and slamming the puck past Ellis. A wonderful goal from a player who continues to turn heads this season.

Rinat Valiev received a penalty immediately following the goal, but 70 seconds later Toronto took the lead.

Zach Hyman and Sam Carrick outworked Hershey inside the Bears zone, showing the determination that is the hallmark of both players. Hyman stole possession and laid the puck off to Carrick, who saw his blast stopped before Hyman put home the go-ahead goal on the rebound.

A shorthanded goal against can often deflate a team, but that didn’t prove the case for Hershey.

Scott Gomez was denied from a sure goal by a shot block from William Nylander, of all people.

It mattered little, as inside a minute later the visitors drew level.

Jakub Vrana was allowed to spin off the left boards and beat Carrick with ease, and Justin Holl decided not to follow him as he went to the left of the goal. It was another fine shot, but Sparks was once again beaten short side.

Hershey reclaimed the lead with 6:20 remaining of the second, ending Sparks’ evening. An error allowed Dustin Gazley away on a breakaway chance. Toronto’s trailing defensemen weren’t ever going to catch him, so you would have expected Sparks to come out and challenge the shooter. Sparks didn’t, and was so deep that he ended up in his net with the puck between his pads.

Antoine Bibeau was called into action and immediately made a huge save on another breakaway — this time on Sean Collin after a mistake from Kapanen.

It looked as though Toronto had scored with two minutes left on the clock. Brown fired just wide before Lindberg seemed to miss an open net after a fabulous spin-around pass from Findlay. The defenseman may have gotten enough of a touch to deny Lindberg, but it summed up Toronto’s prowess in front of goal.

The Marlies‘ best laid plans for the beginning of the third period were undone by Kapanen taking a needless slashing penalty 39 seconds in. It almost produced a tying goal, however; Valiev forced Ellis into a fine save as Toronto once more looked potent when shorthanded.

With the penalty killed, Kapanen immediately went about trying to make amends, but he fired wide after showing fantastic speed and puck handling around the outside of the defense.

Hershey gifted Toronto a powerplay with too many men after hemming the Marlies in their own zone for an extended period. The Bears PK units worked hard, but in truth the Marlies made it far too easy for them as another opportunity went begging.

The turning point of the game came at 8:32 of the final frame. Some excellent play from Toronto resulted in Valiev scoring a wonderful goal only for it to be waived off.

The reason? Sam Carrick was called for high-sticking as Valiev released his shot. It was a questionable call and spectacularly well sold by the Hershey player.

Such are the breaks, and with one second left in the penalty Hershey tallied through Collins, a nice finish from the slot, to put the Bears up 4-2.

The Marlies never looked like staging another of the memorable comebacks we’ve witnessed in recent times. Their last real opportunity came inside the last four minutes on a powerplay. With Bibeau pulled, Gazley’s second goal of the game into an empty net sealed a deserved victory for the visitors.

Post Game Notes

– Toronto outshot Hershey 39-20; even though Dan Ellis made 37 saves, he didn’t have to be spectacular in recording the win.

– Garret Sparks allowed three goals on eleven shots and could be out of favour for a little while if Antoine Bibeau performs well during Saturday’s game.

– With his fourth shorthanded goal of the season, Zach Hyman now leads the league in that category.

– Sam Carrick led all skaters with six shots and three points in this last two games.

– Nikita Soshnikov’s opening tally was his 18th of the season. He’s now third on the Marlies in goals.

– I sound like a broken record, but special teams proved to be a crucial factor once more. Toronto may have tallied shorthanded but they wasted four powerplay opportunities — three when the game was still in the balance. Hershey’s tally on their third powerplay was the dagger for the Marlies.

Game Highlights

Sheldon Keefe Post Game

Marlies Player Stats — Hersey 5 vs. Toronto 2