Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden discusses his team’s 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters in Game 1 of the North Division final.
On the team’s performance in Game 1:
Well, I loved the last 25 minutes. We were a completely different team, again, and the guys know it. But credit to them: knowing that when we are not at our best, we find a way to understand what it will take. We just flipped it. We flipped the switch.
But we have to start that way, especially in these five-game series. We can’t allow a team any life. There were too many gifts from us to them tonight on their chances for. We have to clean some things up, but again, I love the resiliency to be down 2-0 like that on the road.
You’ll need your goalie to make some saves, and he did exactly that, but I loved our response, especially in the third period, with the way we came out. Our mindset reminded me a lot of the final game against Laval.
Again, for us to continue to grow as a team and be the best version of ourselves, we will have to do it to start the game on Saturday.
On what sparked the comeback from 2-0 down late in the second period:
Any time you are on the road, you will probably have a few minutes where a team will push. But I thought they dictated a lot of the pace. We weren’t committed and willing to do a lot of the little things.
I don’t know. I can’t explain it. All I know is that with this group, we’re resilient, and we won’t go away easily. That is the best sign you can possibly ask for as coaches: to see how our players respond to adversity. It is a great sign.
On Bo Groulx’s three-point game, including a few key assists and the empty-net goal:
Probably pretty similar to our team, he started a little slow. We’re not here to single anyone out. We do everything as a team, but once we started to go, you could see it.
It is easy, almost, for us as coaches to show them the difference, and then they get rewarded with points. When you are doing things right, usually, the hockey gods will reward you.
Good for him to grow his game. He puts a lot of pressure on himself. For him and Cowan to pick their games up after the plays they made was huge for our group.
On Ben Danford’s professional (playoff) debut on the blue line (plus-two):
He did a great job. He skates extremely well. He is smart. He is strong and physical.
He came in, and like our group, he got stronger as the game went on. He will get more confident and comfortable. It will take some time, but to come in like that in your first AHL game at this level was pretty impressive.
On Artur Akhtyamov continuing to excel in goal (32 saves on 34 shots):
He continues to grow in confidence with every win. He sure makes a difference. Our players see that. Again, that’s regardless of who is in net, but he has really taken the bull by the horns. He plays with a lot of confidence, and that feeds into our team game. Our team plays with that confidence, too. They see him doing it.
He actually sparked it with the way he played. It was good to see. It’s just one game, but there is definitely a lot to like there.
