The story of the day Sunday was goaltending for the Toronto Marlies.
Vyacheslav Peksa and Ken Appleby shared a 20-save shutout in a 2-0 Marlies win over the Belleville Senators at CAA Arena to finish out both teams preseason
Good early pressure by the Sens was broken by a Ben King goal on Toronto’s first shot of the day.
The former Manitoba Moose forward floating a shot over the catching hand of B-Sens goalie Hunter Shepard to start the scoring.
The goal came at the 4:17 mark and was assisted by Marc Johnstone.
Belleville continued to press with good zone and possession time and had some decent looks on a powerplay, but could not find the net.
The Sens continued to carry the large portion of the play and got another powerplay opportunity that failed to click in the second.
Things got a little scrappy late in the second frame, with Landen Hookey scoring a decisive fight victory over Toronto’s Borya Valis and then everything bubbling over with more tussles on the next whistle.
Almost immediately after killing off a penalty late in the period, Marc Johnstone threw a simple shot toward the Sens net and got a deflection off a Belleville stick to increase the Toronto advantage.
Belleville continued to press in the third, but were left stumped once again by Ken Appleby, who stepped into the crease in place of Peksa.
Shepard made 14 saves in the loss for Belleville.
The Sens finish the preseason 0-2 and get going for real next weekend with two games in less than 24 hours, including the season opener Saturday at 7 p.m. versus the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
(BROCK ORMOND)
