It was understandable given the circumstances, with the Marlies playing a third straight three-in-three weekend, arriving back in Toronto at 3 a.m. Sunday morning, and missing some key members from the lineup.
Utica, meanwhile, played at home on Friday night, travelled Saturday and rested that evening while Toronto did battle in Syracuse.
The game got off to a sluggish start, with neither team able to capitalize on a powerplay, although Utica’s unit looked more threatening than Toronto’s did.
The first of many odd-man rushes for Utica opened the scoring eight minutes in. Subban was the beneficiary of a nice pass from Jones, and he beat Bernier with a chipped backhand finish that you could only stand and admire.