The Toronto Marlies continued their impressive play on Saturday, as three first-period goals stood up in a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves in Game 2 of the Calder Cup Western Conference Semi-Final at Allstate Arena.
Peter Holland, Trevor Smith, Josh Leivo and Jerry D’Amigo scored for Toronto and Drew MacIntyre made 22 saves for his fifth straight playoff win, while Shane Harper and Dmitrij Jaskin tallied for the Wolves.
For the second consecutive playoff series, the Marlies have succeeded in winning the first two games on the road and have an opportunity to wrap things up with the next three games at Ricoh Coliseum.
In almost a carbon copy of Game 1, Smith and Holland spotted the Marlies a 2-0 lead before the midway mark of the first period. Leivo, who had two assists on Friday, scored his second goal of the playoffs beating Wolves goalie Jake Allen on a nice setup by Kenny Ryan.
After a scoreless and uneventful middle frame, Chicago climbed back into the game with a Shane Harper goal that drifted over the shoulder of veteran Drew MacIntyre less than two minutes into the third. The Wolves outshot Toronto 10-5 in the final 20 minutes and narrowed the lead to 3-2 on a Dmitrij Jaskin power play goal with 2:39 left in regulation, but with goalie Jake Allen pulled, D’Amigo scored into the empty net to ice the game away.
With a goal and assist on Saturday, D’Amigo leads the AHL in scoring with nine points(3G, 6A) in five games.
"You come into these series and hope to find a way to get into overtime one night and steal a game and to come out with two is great,'' Marlies coach Steve Spott said after the game. “We became a harder hockey club, a more seasoned hockey club and it's really the first time we had to deal with big-time adversity, so it's nice that we dealt with it.''
The series now shifts to Toronto for Game 3 at 7pm on Wednesday, which can be seen on Rogers TV. Games 4 and 5(if necessary) are Friday and Saturday at 7pm.
*******
The news of Randy Carlyle’s retention as Maple Leafs head coach did not come as a surprise and was actually greeted as a positive to some members of the club still playing at the IIHF World Championships in Belarus.
"I wasn’t too sure how to react,… rookie defenseman Morgan Rielly said to Stephen Whyno of Canadian Press. "I personally like Randy, I think he’s a great coach. I think we have a pretty good relationship.…
Rielly, Nazem Kadri and goalie James Reimer are members of Team Canada, who are 1-1 in the tournament after a stunning 3-2 shootout loss to France on Friday and a 4-1 win over Slovakia on Saturday.
"Not really. Randy’s a good coach," Kadri said upon learning the news. "I think the players got to be a little better and a little more prepared. With what happened last year, it’s an eye-opener, especially for the young group we had, and I’m sure it’s not going to happen again.…
Kadri followed up his nearly point-per-game 2013 lockout shortened season with 20 goals and 30 assists in 78 games, but defensive struggles and inconsistency continued to plague the 2009 seventh overall pick and drew the criticism of Carlyle at times through the season.
Although Carlyle has a better relationship with Kadri than with former coach Ron Wilson, that does not exclude the possibility that he will be one of many players who will be shopped on the trade market this summer.
Reimer is a restricted free agent this summer and will likely receive a qualifying offer from the Leafs, so that they can retain and trade his rights to another club. The 26-year-old goalie did not do anything to improve his case for being a starting NHL goalie with his loss to France. Former Leaf Ben Scrivens got the win over Slovakia on Saturday and is expected to start for Canada on Monday against the Czech Republic.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******
For Those on Twitter: Follow @mikeinbuffalo
KINDLE USERS: Please sign up for Maple Leafs Buzz, which includes a free-of-charge 14-day trial and is just 99 cents per month afterwards. For more information click here.