“We showed a lot of resiliency, and it was just a full team effort all the way down. We’re ecstatic.”

– Vinni Lettieiri

“All the credit goes to the players and Artie for making some big saves when he needed to. We didn’t stray away from the process, and that’s a great road win against a really good hockey team.”

– John Gruden

It wasn’t easy, but it never was going to be. On the road against the divisional favourites with the season on the line, the Toronto Marlies dug in and erased a 2-1 third-period deficit to advance to the third round.

The Marlies didn’t get off to a promising start, but they grew into the game as it progressed. They relied on secondary scoring from role players before one of their top guns stepped up to score the game-winner. It was a victory full of resiliency and character, as the Marlies kept their heads cool under plenty of physical provocation and indifferent officiating.

First Period

Both teams were apprehensive and tentative in the early going, as neither wanted to make a mistake to allow the critical opening goal. Toronto’s only chance of note in the opening 10 minutes came off a broken play; Bo Groulx dropped the puck down to Luke Haymes in the high slot, where Haymes hesitated for a second and saw his shot deflected high.

Blake Smith was a relieved man after his mistake presented Laval with the first Grade-A scoring chance of the game, but Akhtyamov had the answer with an athletic save.

The home crowd didn’t have to wait long to cheer, though, as sloppy play by Toronto handed Laval the lead at the midway mark of the opening frame. The Marlies sagged off too much, allowing an easy entry before Owen Beck coasted into the left circle and found the top corner of the net with a nice wrist shot.

The Marlies weren’t really on their game in the opening frame, but neither were the officials. Alex Belzile delivered a punishing cross-check from behind to Logan Shaw in a fairly obvious call. Incredulously, the refs decided that Toronto’s captain embellished the play and sent him to the box. 

The Marlies registered just three shots on goal, with only an effort from Jacob Quillan extending Kaapo Kähkönen. The Marlies did begin to improve in the final third of the period, but they never threatened to tie the game.

The officials, meanwhile, continued to make curious calls. Blais went after Lettieri following a battle along the boards, and both ended up in the box despite there being only one real aggressor in the play.

To get out of the period trailing by one wasn’t the worst result for Toronto, but they needed to put Laval under more pressure.

Second Period

The first intermission chat had the desired effect as the Marlies started brightly in the opening minute. Toronto earned consecutive power plays but didn’t do enough to test Kähkönen; only a Lettieiri one-time blast straight from a faceoff forced the Laval netminder into any kind of meaningful save.

At the other end, Akhtyamov kept the deficit at one with four excellent saves as Laval generated some high-danger chances. The Rocket recorded seven shots without reply and looked to be in control at the midway point.

Suddenly, Toronto tied the game with a goal born of hard work and grit. An outnumbered Ryan Tverberg took a hit and won a battle along the left boards, allowing Toronto to set the zone. Tverberg then headed to the front of the net, where Quillan cycled the puck from behind the net to Noah Chadwick, who dished off to Blake Smith. The rookie, making his AHL playoff debut, sent a puck toward the net that found a seam through the traffic generated by Tverberg and Easton Cowan. A dirty playoff-type goal was just what the doctor ordered.

Almost immediately, the Marlies found themselves on the penalty kill for the first time in the game. They generated two odd-man rushes, the second of which was a 3v2 with Marshall Rifai as the trailer. Rifai’s shot was blocked, and Laval swarmed to attack in transition. The Marlies never got back into their structure before Beck scored his second goal of the game through the five-hole.

Shaw couldn’t convert on a good look inside the final minute of the period as Toronto went into the second intermission needing a comeback to avoid elimination.

Third Period

John Gruden has called them “the energy line”; they’ve often given the team a spark when needed. Cometh the hour, cometh the fourth line full of hungry veterans wanting a shot at some silverware.

As the third period approached the five-minute mark, March Johnstone hustled down a dump-in. It didn’t matter that he was outmanned, as Johnstone outworked Florian Xhekaj and Aiden Dubinsky on the forecheck to send a slick pass into the slot from below the goal line. It found Reese Johnson, who produced a tidy one-time finish. A scorer of just 19 goals in his previous 202 AHL games, Johnson’s 20th was likely his most important to date.

The feeling that the next goal would decide the series was palpable, and Toronto looked the more threatening offensively. 

In a game featuring some wild broken plays and funky bounces, one almost favoured Toronto at the midway point. Quillan was the beneficiary, skipping through the defense on a partial breakaway. Kähkönen surged out to meet Quillan, who knocked the puck by him and chipped a bouncing puck toward the empty net. Only an outstanding last-ditch goal-line clearance by the recovering Sean Farrell denied the Marlies a go-ahead goal.

Moments later, Laval targeted Akhtyamov, and hell inevitably broke loose in the aftermath. Laurent Dauphin slashed Akhtyamov and appeared to take a couple more shots at the goaltender. The Marlies responded appropriately, sending Dauphin to his backside. Down on his haunches after the incident, Akhtyamov was looked at by the medical staff before staying in the game. 

“I don’t want to say what happened there, but yeah, he just punched me.”

– Artur Akhtyamov

Three minutes later, Tverberg and Farrell were assessed roughing minors after another altercation instigated by the Rocket, creating a spell of four-on-four hockey. Toronto scored the eventual game-winner five seconds in off the faceoff.

William Villeneuve’s perfectly placed/weighted feed found Lettieri’s wheelhouse after Shaw won the initial offensive-zone draw, and Lettieri unleashed his trademark bomb to beat Kähkönen clean, giving Toronto the lead with nine minutes remaining.

Laval didn’t muster much of a push offensively with their season on the line. The Marlies did a great job of not retreating into a shell, spending a decent amount of time defending with the puck.

When the Rocket finally opted for the extra attacker, Toronto kept Laval to the outside, protecting the critical middle ice. The Rocket registered one shot through the final five minutes and resorted to a pathetic display of diving as the crowd voiced its displeasure at the lack of calls; the only calls that should’ve been made were embellishment penalties.

As the final buzzer sounded, the chorus of boos and “refs you suck” rang out from Place Bell. Various items were also thrown onto the ice, including beer cans. In a moment of hilarity, Mermis scooped up a tall boy and pretended to chug it. 

Akhtyamov also joined the party, taking his glove off to “shhh” a Laval crowd that had been on his back for the entire series.

Post Game Notes

– This was the Toronto Marlies franchise’s first win on the road in a winner-take-all game. 

– Vinni Lettieri’s game-winner was his fifth goal of the postseason. With nine points, he sits second in AHL playoff scoring.

– William Villeneuve has been bringing the offense from the blue line. His primary assist on the game winner, an excellent pass, was his eighth postseason point (1G/7A). The ability to generate offense from the backend is particularly important at this time of year, and this has been a critical contribution from Villeneuve this playoff. 

– This couldn’t have been a tougher assignment for Blake Smith in his playoff debut. Barring one mistake in the first period, the big rookie settled into a solid game and provided a physical presence alongside the rookie, Noah Chadwick. The goal was the icing on the cake.

– The coaching staff took a small risk going with the younger and less experienced of their two strong goalie options, and while the second Laval goal was stoppable (although not his fault), Artur Akhtyamov got the job done, turning aside 20 of 22 shots for the victory. In his first-ever AHL playoff, he’s now 4-2 with a .917 save percentage.

– The Marlies will face Cleveland in the North Division Final, with the series set to start on May 14.

– Game 5 lineup:

Forwards
Groulx – Shaw – Lettieri
Cowan – Quillan – Tverberg
Paré – Haymes – Nylander
Pezzetta – Johnstone – Johnson

Defensemen
Rifai – Thrun
Mermis – Villeneuve
Smith – Chadwick

Goalies
Akhtyamov
Hildeby

Game 5 Highlights: Marlies 3 vs. Rocket 2

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR