After a gutsy win in Texas on Monday, that the Toronto Marlies put on such an abject showing with their playoff hopes on the line in Belleville on Wednesday is a total head-scratcher.
Squaring off against a Belleville team backstopped by a debuting goaltender — who was one year removed from Canadian University hockey and playing behind a below-average defense — the Marlies were in a good position to take something away from this game had they been able to knuckle down and compete hard for 60 minutes.
First Period
It took less than nine minutes for Belleville to build a 2-0 lead as they feasted on a pair of defensive-zone turnovers.