The Toronto Marlies’ reward for seeing off the Utica Comets in five games in Round 1 is a second-round meeting with the Syracuse Crunch in the North Division Final.
When these two teams met at this stage last Spring, both teams held home-ice advantage all the way through, culminating in Syracuse winning Game 7 before finishing as runners-up in the 2017 Calder Cup Final. Toronto and Syracuse then met eight times throughout the 2017-18 regular season, with the Marlies holding the upper hand (5-2-1).
The games at Ricoh Coliseum were generally tightly contested, with the teams scoring just nine goals apiece and the Marlies‘ taking five points to the visitors’ three. It was a different story at the War Memorial in Syracuse, however, where the Marlies out-scored their hosts 16-10 and took six of the eight points on offer.
The Marlies had the better of the special teams battle, with a power play converting at 19% and a penalty kill limiting the Crunch to four goals on 35 opportunities.
Andreas Johnsson was a thorn in the side of Syracuse throughout the season series, recording 11 points (7-4-11), including a hat-trick back in January. Chris Mueller and Ben Smith were good for six points apiece (3-3-6), while Colin Greening (3-2-5), Trevor Moore (1-3-4) and Miro Aaltonen (three goals) all chipped in.
Toronto may require a little more offensive help from the blue line in the playoffs than what was provided during the regular season series, with Timothy Liljegren (four assists) and Justin Holl (1-2-3) the main contributors of note off the backend.
Better Know the Enemy: Syracuse Crunch
Syracuse finished second in the North Division with a 46-22-8 record through the regular season and were one of only three AHL teams (Toronto and Lehigh Valley were the others) to accumulate 100 points. A team more noted for its skill and speed up and down the lineup, ‘defense-first’ was the formula for success this season for the Crunch, who owned the third-best goals against record in the Eastern Conference (189).
The Crunch, who have used seven goaltenders through 2017-18, have certainly benefited from a trade orchestrated by their parent club with Edmonton just before the trade deadline. Eddie Pasquale was acquired by Tampa and promptly reassigned to Syracuse, where he made a huge impact with a 10-1-1 record and a .938 save percentage down the stretch of the regular season.
Drafted 88th overall in 2016 by Tampa, netminder Connor Ingram has put together a promising first professional season, rounding out a strong Syracuse netminding tandem. The Kamloops Blazers alumni recorded 20 wins (20-11-2) and posted a .914 save percentage during his rookie campaign.
Speed, skill and youth are the components that make Syracuse a potent offensive threat –six of their leading scorers in the regular season were rookies and one of those forwards, Anthony Cirelli, is currently a part of Tampa Bay’s post-season campaign.
Right winger Mathieu Joseph led the way with 53 points, including a team-high 38 assists. Former Toronto draft pick Carter Verhaeghe accumulated 48 points (17-31-48) in his third season as a professional, Alexander Volkov scored 23 goals from the left wing, and centerman Mitchell Stephens chipped in 41 points (19-22-41) during his rookie campaign.
At 25 years old, Michael Bournival almost has veteran status on the team. He provides speed, some experience, special teams contributions, and proven scoring at the AHL level.
Two vastly experienced defensemen provided secondary scoring from the blue line in Mat Bodie and Jamie McBain. In his first season with the Crunch, Bodie put up 37 points (6-31-37), while McBain led the way with nine goals from the blue line.
Another Crunch defenseman of note is rookie Cal Foote. Drafted 14th overall by Tampa in 2017 — selected over the Marlies‘ Timothy Liljegren, among other promising defense prospects available at that spot — Foote is receiving his first taste of professional hockey, which he marked by scoring in his debut. The 19-year-old has been thrown into the deep end of playoff hockey and hasn’t looked fazed so far, helping himself to two assists in three games.
Syracuse progressed through the second round of the playoffs with a 3-0 sweep of Rochester Americans. The Crunch dismantled a defensively-frail Amerks team by outscoring them 18-10 thanks to their balanced scoring, with 11 different Syracuse players finding the net.
Matthew Peca, third in team scoring through the regular season, was recently reassigned by Tampa and proceeded to rack up eight points through the three Round 1 games. He was ably supported by Gabriel Dumont (claimed off waivers in February), Alexander Volkov, and Mathieu Joseph, who all recorded five points apiece.
Keys to the Series
Toronto had a small taste of what to expect from Syracuse during the Utica series — the difference being the added level of speed the Crunch possess and how quickly they can turn defense into offense by feasting on turnovers.
The Marlies have to suppress the Syracuse transition game by making sure they don’t get caught with too many players below the puck, keeping their F3 in place at all times, and managing the puck properly through the neutral zone.
Special Teams
Syracuse led the league in times shorthanded through the regular season (376), and that’s potentially an area Toronto can possibly exploit if they are able to find some much-needed rhythm on the power play. There should be a deal of caution taken, however, as Syracuse was tied for the most shorthanded goals with 13 and their speed is a huge reason behind their success in that area of the game.
On the other side of the coin, the Marlies penalty kill was shaky at times in the Utica series and needs to be a lot better against Syracuse, who netted three goals with the extra man against Rochester.
Goaltending
After a rocky couple of games on the road, Sheldon Keefe showed ultimate faith in Garret Sparks and was rewarded with a shutout in the winner-takes-all Game 5 against Utica. From here on in, the series format changes to seven games and it’ll be interesting to see whether Keefe opts to give any playing time to Calvin Pickard, who won both his starts against Syracuse during the regular season.
Connor Ingram did not fare well against the Marlies during his rookie season, allowing five goals on 29 nine shots through 70 minutes of play. Eddie Pasquale, who looks set to start Game 1 for Syracuse, is a career 9-8 in the post-season with a .921 save percentage. If the Marlies can get on top of him early, it may force the Crunch into a difficult decision regarding which goaltender to start throughout the series.
Road Form
Toronto set a new AHL record with 30 wins on the road, but the performances in Utica were way below their usual standard and they were deservedly beaten twice on their travels.
Syracuse’s home rink is also an extremely loud and intimidating building to play in, but Toronto proved they could handle it — at least in the regular season — by taking three of the four games at the War Memorial so far in 2017-18.
A pivotal moment in this series could be Game 3 in Syracuse, which is played the evening after Game 2 at Ricoh Coliseum.
Depth Scoring
The return of Andreas Johnsson is a huge boost, as witnessed in Game 5 against Utica. The Marlies need the likes of Miro Aaltonen, Ben Smith and Chris Mueller to find another gear; with only seven different players finding the net at 5v5 during the five-game opening series, the emphasis is on the team as a whole to produce more. Dmytro Timashov was a pleasant surprise in Round 1, leading the team in scoring with five points, and the Marlies will need others to follow his lead and step up against a stingy Round 2 opponent that benefited from 11 different goal scorers in their Round 1 sweep over Rochester.
Toronto Marlies vs. Syracuse Crunch – Round 2 Schedule
| Date | Home Team | Puck Drop |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, May 3 | Toronto | 7 p.m. EST |
| Saturday, May 5 | Toronto | 4 p.m. EST |
| Sunday, May 6 | Syracuse | 7 p.m. EST |
| Tuesday, May 8 | Syracuse | 7 p.m. EST |
| Saturday, May 12* | Toronto | 4 p.m. EST |
| Monday, May 14* | Syracuse | 7 p.m. EST |
| Wednesday, May 16* | Toronto | 7 p.m. EST |
