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Having lost home-ice advantage and the series lead at Ricoh Coliseum on Sunday, the Toronto Marlies bounced back in a big way to reclaim both with a Game 3 victory in Texas.


First Period

Dominant at the H-E-B Center in Cedar Park this season, the Stars could easily have opened the scoring just two minutes in, but Colin Markison misfired on a breakaway after Calle Rosen’s shot was blocked down.

The Marlies threatened once in the early stages through the Kid Line, while poor puck management on Toronto’s part was giving impetus to the home team. Roope Hintz missed the target on a backdoor feed from Brian Flynn following a turnover from the Marlies before Garret Sparks denied Markison with a pokecheck after the forward rounded Vincent LoVerde down the left wing.

Unfortunately, the officiating has been inconsistent throughout the series so far and it proved no better in Game 3, with Chris Mueller blatantly taken out with a knee-on-knee hit by Reece Scarlett and no call resulting from the officials. Thankfully, the veteran forward was OK (and later played a pivotal role in the game).

The Marlies created a couple of opportunities to finish the period, but Mike McKenna denied Adam Brooks and Travis Dermott. Dermott really should have scored on an empty net, as should have Hintz at the other end, but the Stars forward was unable to pounce on a rebound chance generated by Markison following a turnover by Timothy Liljegren.

Overall, getting through the first 20 minutes in a tough building at 0-0 with a few scoring chances and some offensive-zone time generated was a period the Marlies would have taken going into the game.

Second Period

The deadlock was broken less than a minute into the middle frame. The Stars switched the puck to a streaking forward down the weak side in the neutral zone — Texas catching the Marlies out this way has been a recurrence through three games — and LoVerde missed his assignment, allowing Sheldon Dries to escape down the left. The rookie forward let fly from the left circle and fired a perfect shot glove-side past Sparks.

Joel L’Esperance came close with a redirect chance to double the lead but couldn‘t solve Sparks before Toronto responded just three minutes later to tie the game at one.

Sheldon Keefe sent Mueller out on the top unit for an offensive zone draw, which the veteran center won back to LoVerde. Johnsson and Smith worked to keep the puck alive before the Swedish winger finally arrived in this series: Taking out two Stars defenders with a pretty pass, Johnsson set up Mueller for a tidy back door finish.

Remi Elie could have put the Stars back ahead at the five-minute mark but he mishandled the puck on yet another breakaway opportunity for Texas.

After dodging that bullet, the Marlies really began to grow into the game and took the lead for good with eight minutes remaining.

Winning puck battles along the end wall and finally getting their cycle game going allowed Toronto to work the puck to Calle Rosen at the point, where the Swedish defenseman walked the line before rifling a shot a powerful wrister through traffic to put the Marlies up 2-1.

The Marlies were now firmly in control but weren’t able to turn their possession advantage into an insurance marker. Trevor Moore and Justin Holl passed up quality shooting opportunities and Toronto headed into the final frame with a one-goal lead.

Third Period

The Marlies were able to carry the momentum of the middle frame over into the third, with Mason Marchment robbed of an insurance goal early by McKenna after good work from Moore and Brooks.

Having lost Frederik Gauthier to an injury early in the second period, the Marlies were nearly down to 10 forwards after Pierre Engvall limped to the bench in pain following an awkward fall in the offensive zone. Thankfully, the Swedish winger was able to continue after a short breather.

The Marlies were handing the Stars a taste of their own medicine from Game 2 when protecting the lead, clogging up the neutral zone and jamming the Stars up at the blue line.

An individual play from Brent Regner created two scoring chances for Texas, but Sparks and Moore came up with the blocks to keep the puck out.

After calling nothing all game long, the officials found their whistles with six minutes remaining — Texas rightly felt hard done by, but Toronto’s power play was toothless anyway.

Trailing by one, the Stars pulled McKenna and went for broke. The Marlies only gave up six shots through the final period (20 overall) and rarely appeared troubled as held on comfortably for a 2-1 victory, giving them a 2-1 series lead in the process.


Post Game Notes

– Both Toronto and Texas were unbeaten when scoring first heading into this final. So far, the team that has opened the scoring in this series has gone on to lose each time.

– A win for the Marlies ensures, at worst, they’ll get to head back to Toronto with home-ice advantage now restored, with Games 6 and 7 (if necessary) set to take place at Ricoh.

Chris Mueller recorded his fourth goal of the playoffs. The veteran forward leads the Marlies in this series with four points against his former team (2-2-4).

Andreas Johnsson registered his 10th post-season assist with the play that created the tying goal — his best piece of play against the Stars so far.

“He made an elite play to set up that first goal,” said Keefe. “That’s the kind of play that we need from him. When he does that, it makes a big difference for us and, obviously, it’s a huge moment in the game for us.”

Trevor Moore also reached 10 assists with the primary marker on the game winner and now has 15 points in 16 games in the playoffs — good for fourth in AHL postseason scoring.

Adam Brooks led all Toronto skaters with four shots and the kid line as a whole (Marchment-Brooks-Moore) was consistently excellent in Game 3.

Garret Sparks posted 19 saves for his 12th playoff victory, improving his save percentage to .921% in the process.

– A hit by Samuel Labarge left Frederik Gauthier favouring his shoulder early in the middle period and he did not return to the game.

– Game 3 Lines:

Forwards
Johnsson-Aaltonen-Grundstrom
Timashov-Mueller-Smith
Engvall-Gauthier-Greening
Marchment-Brooks-Moore

Defensemen
Marincin-Holl
Rosen-LoVerde
Dermott-Liljegren

Goaltenders
Sparks
Pickard


Game Highlights – Marlies 2 vs. Stars 1


Post-Game: Sheldon Keefe