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The Marlies look to avoid a 2-0 hole before returning to Toronto for Games 3, 4, and 5 of the Calder Cup Finals tonight. Their struggling PP cost them a chance to steal Game 1 despite being outplayed and missing a number of key offensive contributors. The positive is that Ben Scrivens continued to give them that chance, allowing two goals on 41 shots against. The Marlies will have to try to eke out a win with hard-fought, physical, defensive hockey and find ways to pick up some garbage goals with a lot of skill missing from the lineup.

This game is pivotal if the Marlies hope to raise the Calder Cup at series’ end. Go back to Toronto for the next three games tied at 1s and they’re in good shape, with hopefully some bodies returning to the lineup. Lose tonight and it’s a 2-0 hole to a very good Admirals team, something the Marlies have not experienced at any point in the playoffs.

Of course, there’s another big game going on tonight, Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Kings and Devils in New Jersey. A good night of hockey lies ahead.

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Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.