No quit.
Toronto trailed three times during Game 1 of the Calder Cup Final — including by two goals at one stage — but despite producing a performance far below their usual standard for the opening 40 minutes, the Marlies found a way in the third period and now sit three wins away.
First Period
The Texas Stars drew first blood, making hay on the game’s first power play six minutes in.
The Marlies were caught with too many below the goal line after a lost puck battle, and Travis Morin was alone in front to put the Stars out ahead early.
The Marlies were struggling to create anything of note offensively until Adam Brooks and Mason Marchment just missed connecting on the Kid Line’s first shift of the game.
It came as a bit of a surprise when the Marlies tied the game up; a speculative cross-ice feed from Justin Holl, who pinched down the right wall to the goal line, struck the shin pads of Stars defenseman Reece Scarlett and snuck past Mike McKenna.
The reprieve was short-lived, however, as the Marlies gave up a second straight power play goal. Missed assignments opened up a pass down the middle of the ice from Brent Regner to send Curtis McKenzie through on net, and McKenzie finished over the right pad of Garret Sparks.
The Marlies were frankly fortunate to only trail 2-1 heading into the first intermission.
Second Period
The Marlies remained second best but conjured up a tying goal again out of the blue. With nine minutes remaining, it was the Marlies’ most reliable line that drew them level as Colin Greening won a battle behind the net and fed the puck out front for Frederik Gauthier to fire home a one-timer.
Just 28 seconds later, Toronto fell asleep and gifted Texas the lead once more. Missed assignments following a dump-in allowed the Stars to work the puck to Austin Fyten, who wired a one-time shot past a helpless Sparks.
Texas deserved their lead and their hard work and clogging of the neutral zone was something Toronto had few answers for throughout much of the opening 40 minutes.
Carelessness with the puck from Marlies wasn’t helping their cause, and it cost them a fourth goal against with 2:12 remaining, with Justin Holl the culprit in the neutral zone.
Texas quickly moved the puck into the Toronto zone, where Justin Dowling’s excellent individual effort drew a left pad save from Sparks before Travis Morin slid home the rebound.
The Marlies appeared deflated at 4-2 before captain Ben Smith lifted his team with renewed hope. After grabbing the puck down the left wing, he chased his own chip in across the offensive blue line, winning the race before pulling up at the goal line. Smith then speculatively threw the puck towards goal, where Mueller who had driven hard to the net and applied the slightest of touches to beat McKenna, making it a 4-3 game with 15 seconds left on the clock.
Third Period
A turning-point sequence arrived early in the third period: Andreas Johnsson coughed up the puck inside his own zone on a power play, gifting McKenzie a gilt-edged shorthanded scoring chance. It was Sparks’ turn to step up for his team with a ten-bell save that brought large sections of the Ricoh crowd to their feet and lifted the Marlies bench.
Back at even strength, with less than three minutes on the clock, Toronto tied the game at 4-4. Vincent LoVerde, leading the rush, found Greening, who made a smart drop pass to Marchment right behind him. The rookie winger wasted little time letting fly with a great release that beat McKenna glove side from the top of the left circle.
It was now a whole new game, although yet again Toronto nearly let off after scoring — Sparks denied McKenzie for a second time with a critical save.
The Marlies were a different beast in the final frame of regulation and began to feed off the raucous home crowd, who really found their voices at this point. After a sustained spell of pressure, Mueller and Dmytro Timashov combined to find Martin Marincin, of all players, alone in the low slot. The defenseman dangled McKenna in tight, and while McKenna stopped the first shot, Marincin stayed with the play and chipped home his own rebound to give Toronto their first lead of the game.
5-4 quickly became 5-5 with the third goal of the period after only six minutes of frenetic play. The Marlies defense backed off too deep and Marincin allowed Dowling to get by him to retrieve his own chip in down the middle of the ice, where he applied a deft finish past Sparks.
In need of another response, the struggling Marlies power play came through with 10 minutes remaining.
A broken stick played a key role as Trevor Moore had to dash back to the bench to retrieve a fresh twig with Toronto in control of possession inside the Texas zone. The left winger was never picked up as he re-entered the play, and Mueller found Moore between the hashmarks for Moore’s fifth of the postseason.
The Marlies’ playoff slogan of ‘This is More’ was totally fitting as Toronto now led 6-5 and had to try and close out a rollercoaster of a Game 1 contest.
Carl Grundstrom was unable to corral a cross-ice feed with an open net to aim at with eight minutes remaining before Toronto found themselves back on the penalty kill shortly after.
The shorthanded units had recalibrated and were fully dialled in to kill off 60 seconds of the penalty before drawing a call of their own. Timashov then narrowly failed to score on a breakaway chance with 2:40 remaining before McKenna vacated his net and the Stars went for broke.
The Marlies rarely looked troubled and three of the Marlies’ most hard-working players performed yeoman’s work to deny Texas entry into the Toronto zone — Moore, Greening and Gauthier all battled hard to keep the puck away from danger as the Marlies clung on for a memorable 6-5 victory.
Post Game Notes
– That’s 10 straight wins for the Marlies, who remain unbeaten on home ice in the playoffs (8-0). It also marked the first time Texas had a lost a game in the playoffs after scoring the opening goal.
– Toronto’s top line was largely absent (a deal of credit goes to Texas), and Sheldon Keefe was visibly upset with Andreas Johnsson on the bench on more than one occasion. I’d expect a bounce-back performance on Sunday.
“The fact that our best people weren’t very good and we’re up 1-0 in the Calder Cup Finals is a great sign for us as a team, but we know we’re in a fight here and we’re going to have to be a lot better,” said Keefe.
Few Marlies players — outside of the Gauthier line — could say they produced their best performance in Game 1, but it’s a credit to the players and the coaching staff that they stuck with it and found a way to win despite the top line being completely ineffectual. That’s an encouraging sign for when the Marlies’ big guns do get going.
“I think it’s a sign of where we’re at as a team,” said Keefe. “We’re playing in this series for a reason, and that’s because of our depth. Obviously, there were a lot of chunks in this game that weren’t very good for us, but the fact that we survived that and found a way to win here was not unlike the last two series where we’ve played on home ice and had to chase the game a bit and find a way. It was ugly, for sure, but we’re up one and we’re going to take it.”
– Chris Mueller led the way with three points (1-2-3), while Colin Greening and Dmytro Timashov both contributed a pair of assists. Trevor Moore’s game-winning goal extended his point streak to five games (2-3-5) and he now has 14 points in 14 playoff appearances.
– Typically the backbone of the team, the Marlies blue line largely struggled in this game, and yet the offense from the backend was a critical factor as Justin Holl and Martin Marincin both chipped in with a goal apiece and the Marlies’ defense as a group combined for 13 shots on net.
“I just thought our defense fought it a lot today,” said Keefe. “Credit to them for applying a lot of pressure on us. But Marty has been huge for us. That’s a big goal for us and he gives us a lot of big minutes. He’s another guy that will be a whole lot better tomorrow.”
– The game finished with some nastiness at the final buzzer following a cheap shot, resulting in McKenzie and Holl receiving 10-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
– Game 1 lines:
Forwards
Johnsson-Aaltonen-Grundstrom
Timashov-Mueller-Smith
Engvall-Gauthier-Greening
Marchment-Brooks-Moore
Defensemen
Marincin-Holl
Rosen-LoVerde
Dermott-Liljegren
Goaltenders
Sparks
Pickard
