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Courtesy of last week’s four-game sweep of the Syracuse Crunch, the Toronto Marlies have an inordinately long respite before renewing their pursuit of a Calder Cup Championship, but they now know the next opponent they will be facing.
The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (farm club of the Philadelphia Flyers) finished off the Charlotte Checkers with a 5-1 win on Saturday, winning the best-of-seven series four games to one and advancing to the Eastern Conference Final.
The Phantoms had the second-best AHL record (47-19-5-5) during the regular season, but did lose both meetings with Toronto. Lehigh Valley lost only one game in their series victories over Providence and Charlotte and are in much need of some time off.
Here is the #Marlies schedule vs. Lehigh Valley beginning next Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum #Leafs pic.twitter.com/SIfNvaSM1Q
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) May 13, 2018
Goaltender Alex Lyon made 94 saves in a quintuple overtime victory in Game 4 and allowed only four goals in the second round against the Checkers, but the Phantoms may be a bit shorthanded, as defensemen Travis Sanheim and Sam Morin both suffered what has been described as long-term injuries.
The series will open at Ricoh Coliseum next Saturday with a pair of afternoon contests, followed by three straight games in Allentown and if needed, returning to Toronto for Games 6 and 7.
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The Maple Leafs had an extremely successful regular season, but fell below the expectations of some with a first round loss to the Boston Bruins. One of the primary tasks ahead for newly installed GM Kyle Dubas is to evaluate the players that currently make up the club and determine which should be retained and which Toronto should move on from.
We will start with an evaluation of the Leafs goaltending and have the grades for the blueline and forwards later this week:
Frederik Andersen – The 27-year-old put concerns of durability to rest, starting 66 games for the second straight season and facing the most shots in the NHL (2211) last season, but as with his first year in Blue and White, Andersen struggled in October before being a steadying presence for the Leafs.
Fatigue from overuse may have been a factor at the end of the season(3.50 GAA and under .900 save percentage in March and April), but Andersen was in the running for the club’s MVP , having broken the franchise record with 38 wins.
In the playoffs, Andersen was a main part of the Leafs three victories, but struggled in three of his four starts at TD Garden, including giving up three goals on five shots in Game 2 and coming up small in the third period of Game 7.
Grade – B+
Curtis McElhinney - The veteran backup had a remarkable year and performed well beyond expectations, which for most coaches would have merited more playing time than just 18 games, but Mike Babcock was intent on using Andersen in every non back-to-back start during the regular season, except in two instances late in the season.
McElhinney had 11 wins, with a microscopic 2.14 GAA and .934 save percentage.
Grade – A-
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