“Trouble” has been a relative term for the Toronto Marlies this season, but it may have finally arrived in the Calder Cup playoffs.
The Marlies have run into the Albany Devils, who beat Toronto 3-2 in overtime on Sunday to take a 2-1 series lead in the second round set.
Albany’s penalty kill, which finished third in the AHL during the regular season, has dominated the Marlies. The Devils have killed off 29-of-30 power plays in seven playoff games. Toronto has allowed five opposing power-play goals in 23 chances.
Albany has scored more goals shorthanded (four) than they have allowed to opposing power plays this post-season.
The Marlies felt that sting in Game 3 on Sunday. Holding a 2-1 lead in the final minute of regulation, a Marlies defensive breakdown allowed the Albany penalty kill to tie the game with 21 seconds left in the third period. The Devils’ power play then converted in overtime after killing off all eight of Toronto’s opportunities with the man advantage.
Undrafted NCAA free-agent Nick Lappin had both the game-tying and game-winning goals. Lappin, a 23-year-old forward from Brown University, fired 11 shots in Game 3. In seven post-season outings, he has three goals and an assist while quickly earning a key role in the Albany attack.
The Devils played Games 2 and 3 without veteran centre Jim O’Brien and dangerous rookie Pavel Zacha, the sixth pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, because of injuries.
Albany head coach Rick Kowalsky dipped into his reserves, bringing unheralded forwards Graham Black, Ryan Kujawinski, Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond and Max Novak into the lineup.
Balanced scoring, a trademark of Kowalsky’s club during the regular season, has continued in the playoffs, making the Albany offence very difficult to shut down. Eight Devils have two or more goals in the first seven games of the post-season. Among that group are Lappin and left winger Ben Thomson (six goals in 73 regular-season games). Steady, stay-at-home defenceman Dan Kelly has a goal and two assists while still managing to babysit the Marlies’ never-ending cavalcade of offensive firepower.
Captain Rod Pelley, an integral presence on the Albany penalty kill, chipped in with a Game 3 short-handed goal.
“Rod is without question our leader and has been,” Kowalsky said before the series.
“He plays a man’s game. He plays a heavy game. He’s nasty when he has to be, and he has taken his game to another level in the playoffs. So I think that you combine the fact that he is such a good person off the ice and guys want to follow the way he practises, the way he competes and battles, (and) it’s pretty clear why he is our captain.”
Devils goaltender Scott Wedgewood continues his fantastic playoff run, supporting a .918 save percentage and a 2.16 goals-against average.
The Marlies have two more games at Albany with Game 4 going Tuesday. If it is not a must-win for them, it certainly is close to that. Being on the brink of elimination and needing to defeat the Devils in three consecutive games would be a sizeable ask for Keefe.
“We have to press on here,” Keefe told LeafsTV on Monday. “That game is over with. This is going to be a hard-fought series all the way through. We knew that coming in, and (Game 3) was obviously no different right until the final buzzer, so we have to regroup here and be great (Tuesday).”
Elsewhere
The Lake Erie Monsters laboured quietly all season while more heralded outfits like Toronto and Albany in the Eastern Conference and the Milwaukee Admirals and Ontario Reign in the Western Conference picked up headlines.
But Lake Erie might finally be catching the attention of the AHL. The Monsters have jumped out to a 3-0 series lead against the powerful Grand Rapids Griffins in the second round. Monsters goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has gone 6-0 in the playoffs with a .930 save percentage and a 1.93 GAA. He turned in a 41-save performance in Game 3 on Sunday and Lake Erie can finish the sweep on Tuesday.
After losing Game 1 in their series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Atlantic Division champion Hershey Bears have pushed back. They took wins in Games 2 and 3 and have a 2-1 series lead.
In the Pacific Division, the nasty Southern California rivalry between Ontario and the San Diego Gulls continues. Ontario has a 2-1 series lead. The teams rest and wait until Game 4 on Friday.
