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The Toronto Marlies came within two minutes of falling behind 3-0 in their best-of-seven series with the Syracuse Crunch on Tuesday, but an improbable three-goal rally late in regulation gave Toronto new life and a 5-3 victory at Ricoh Coliseum.
Andreas Johnsson tallied twice, Brendan Leipsic, Carl Grundstrom and Kasperi Kapanen also scored and Kasimir Kaskisuo made 22 saves for the Marlies, who have an opportunity to even the series with a win in Game 4 on Wednesday.
Toronto continued their trend of struggling out of the gate against Syracuse, as the Crunch scored the only goal of the first period on an Adam Erne breakaway and extended their lead on a power play goal from Byron Froese early in the second.
The Marlies began to show signs of life in the second, outshooting the Crunch 17-7. Johnsson converted on the power play on a setup from Kapanen and tied the game less than four minutes later on a shot that deflected off of a Crunch defender and through Syracuse goalies Mike McKenna’s pads.
AFTER 40: Andreas Johnsson's second of the night has this one tied 2-2 at the intermission.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/jPLKOGHcV8
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
“(Andreas) continues to do it for us, it shows his competitiveness.… Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “He’s in the game, he’s a competitor and he’s a real fun guy to watch.…
The 22-year-old Swede, who followed up winning Rookie of the Year and three successful seasons in the SHL with a 20-goal campaign in his first season in North America, leads the Marlies with five goals in seven playoff games, has scored the opening goals in each game of the series and may be putting himself in the mix for a job with the Maple Leafs next season.
Syracuse regained the lead midway through the third on a goal by Erik Condra, but with Kaskisuo pulled late in regulation, Leipsic converted on McKenna rebound to tie the game.
Take another look as Brendan Leipsic tied the game with less than two minutes on the clock.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/ULxQXGnawE
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
Grundstrom (who joined the Marlies last week after completing his season with Frolunda and scored a goal and assist in his AHL debut in Game 2), gave Toronto their first lead of the series and Kapanen added an insurance goal.
Carl Grundstrom buried the rebound to put the #Marlies ahead just 18 seconds after Leipsic tied it.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/S2HojB6ILJ
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 10, 2017
The three Toronto goals in 33 seconds may have changed the tide of a series that looked to be going decidedly in the direction of the Crunch, but Keefe knows that a more complete effort will be needed to draw even in the series.
“All we’ve done here is give ourselves a little bit of life (and) a little bit of breathing room,… Keefe said. “I’m sure from (the Syracuse) perspective across the hall, they’ll be more than happy with a split here and a chance to go home and win it. We haven’t really accomplished a lot. We dug ourselves a hole and we’ve got to find a way out of.…
There were less extracurricular activities on Tuesday with the absence of Syracuse defenseman Jake Dotchin, who was suspended for three games by the American Hockey League for a hit on Toronto’s Frederik Gauthier. Crunch pest Cory Conacher dropped the gloves with Leipsic in the second period and Yanni Gourde jumped Johnsson in the final minute of the third.
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