The Toronto Marlies took another step towards reaching their second Calder Cup Final in three seasons, as they completed a four game series sweep of the Chicago Wolves with a 4-0 victory at Ricoh Coliseum Friday night.
Greg McKegg, Carter Ashton, Peter Holland and Korbinian Holzer scored goals for Toronto and veteran Drew MacIntyre made 30 saves for his second shutout of the playoffs. Toronto has won seven straight playoff games, thanks to a balanced offensive attack and solid goaltending from MacIntyre, who is 7-0 with a sparking 1.56 GAA and .949 save percentage in the post-season.
“He(MacIntyre) played to the level that we needed him to play at.… Marlies coach Steve Spott said following the victory. “(Chicago) pressed hard in the second period and he made a couple of outstanding saves, that short five-on-three where we needed him to be great, he stood tall and really gave us that emotional life we needed.…
The Marlies are reaping the rewards of having players who played a significant chunk of time with the parent Maple Leafs this season. Winger Jerry D’Amigo leads the AHL in scoring with 12 points and is +11 in seven playoff games, while former Calder Cup winner Trevor Smith is second on the club with eight points. Center Peter Holland is tied for the club lead with four goals with D’Amigo and Sam Carrick, in spite of missing the entire first round with an undisclosed injury.
Toronto will face the winner of the series between the reigning Calder Cup Champion Grand Rapids Griffins and Texas Stars. Texas leads the series 3-2 after a 3-2 overtime victory in Grand Rapids Friday night, with the series moving to Texas for Games 6 and 7.
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Toronto goaltending prospect Antoine Bibeau made quite an impression in the opening game of the Memorial Cup in London, ON, with a 51 save shutout in a 1-0 victory over the host Knights at Budweiser Gardens Friday night.
The 20-year-old Bibeau was selected 172nd overall by Toronto in 2013 and was named MVP of the QMJHL Playoffs after going 16-4-4 in 24 playoff games for Val d’Or.
The Leafs have three prospects playing in the four team round-robin, Bibeau, 2012 second rounder and Guelph Storm team captain Matt Finn and sixth-rounder Ryan Rupert.
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The Leafs have five players currently active at the 2014 IIHF World Championships in Minsk, Belarus.
Center Nazem Kadri has three assists, defenseman Morgan Rielly has one goal and one assist and James Reimer is 2-0-1, with a 1.95 GAA and .929 save percentage for Team Canada, who have bounced back from opening the tournament with a shootout loss to France to win four straight.
Defenseman Jake Gardiner has one goal and one assist for Team USA and Nikolai Kulemin has three goals and one assist for Team Russia.
Notable former Leafs playing in the tournament, Nik Antropov(KAZ)(1 G, 3 A in 5 GP), Mikhail Grabovski(BEL)(1 G, 3 A in 4 GP), Sondre Olden(NOR)(1 G, 1 A in 5 GP) and Leo Komarov(FIN)(1 G, 0A in 5 GP)
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