RECAP: HAMMERS, MARLIES BATTLE TO PRESEASON SHOOTOUT AT TD COLISEUM

Cue the intro video. Turn on the lights. The American Hockey League is officially back in Hamilton.

Season Ticket Members, package holders and partners were welcomed to TD Coliseum on Sunday afternoon for their first taste of Hammers hockey, and it was nothing short of entertaining. Although the game ultimately finished in favour of the visitors, Toronto came away with a 5-4 shootout victory.

PRESEASON ACTION

The Marlies opened the scoring in the first period when Landon Sim redirected a point shot from Philippe Myers to put Toronto on the board. The Hammers answered before the end of the frame, with Cam Berg burying a power-play opportunity.

Just 45 seconds into the second period, Daniil Prokhorov gave Hamilton the lead. Vinni Lettieri tied the game for the Marlies with a cross-ice one-timer, but Hunter Drew restored the Hammers advantage less than 40 seconds later. Gleb Veremyev added some insurance just before the eight-minute mark, beating the Toronto goaltender with a forehand-to-backhand deke to give Hamilton a two-goal advantage.

Toronto’s Logan Shaw scored a pair of goals in the third period to erase the Hammerse two-goal lead and tie the game at 4-4 with just over 13 minutes remaining, eventually sending the game to overtime.

Neither team found the back of the net during the five-minute overtime period, forcing a shootout. Brendan Brisson and Shaw scored for Toronto to give the Marlies a 5-4 victory.

Joshua Kotai turned aside 14 of 16 shots in 40 minutes of action. Henrik Tikkanen took over between the pipes in the third period, stopping nine of the 11 shots he faced.

A MEMORABLE FIRST IMPRESSION

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first impression. The Hammers certainly made theirs count, putting together a strong performance in front of the home fans in their first game at TD Coliseum.

The attention now turns to Friday night, when the Hammers visit the Belleville Senators to open the regular season, one of eight contests around the league on opening night. The following day, Hamilton visits the Toronto Marlies for the first of eight regular-season meetings between the two teams this season.

The Marlies will return to TD Coliseum during the Hammers inaugural Home Opener Weekend on October 9 and 11.