Marlies: A Different Team Than the One We Saw All Season
I want to start by letting any Toronto Maple Leafs fans who don't normally follow the Marlies, but are now watching thanks to Sportsnet's coverage of the Calder Cup Final, know something important: this is not the same Marlies team that played most of the regular season. It isn't even the same team that started the playoffs. The Marlies won the game 1-0.
The players are largely the same, but the style of play is completely different.
Looking at the Marlies' recent history.
Actually, let me backtrack a bit. The first period looked very much like the Marlies team we watched all season. Like their parent club, there were plenty of nights when they were outplayed and outshot. The difference was their resilience. They found ways to overcome their deficiencies often enough to win exactly half of their 72 regular-season games, while collecting enough loser points to secure a middle-of-the-pack playoff berth.
What those of us who followed the team closely didn't see until midway through the postseason was the version of the Marlies we saw over the final two periods of Game 3: a team that controls play, dominates physically, and dictates the pace of the game.
More on that in a moment.
Related: Maple Leafs Rielly, His List & What Nobody Talks About.
Game 3 was one the Marlies could've easily lost.
As for the game itself, I fully expected the Marlies to lose. Against Wilkes-Barre, they won both road games to take a 2-0 series lead before returning home and dropping the next two. I thought we might see a similar script unfold here. For the first period, it certainly looked that way.
The game seemed to be played almost entirely in the Toronto zone. The Marlies looked nervous and tentative. Pucks bounced off sticks, passes missed their targets, and the team struggled to establish any rhythm. Had it not been for Artur Akhtyamov, the Wolves could easily have led 1-0, 2-0, or even 3-0 after twenty minutes.
Instead, the game remained scoreless.
Forty Minutes of Marlies Dominance.
I have no idea what was said in the dressing room during the first intermission, but whatever it was worked. The transformation was immediate.
The Marlies began the second period by killing off the remainder of a Luke Haymes tripping penalty taken with 16 seconds left in the opening frame. Not only did they kill it, but the best scoring chance during the advantage belonged to Toronto, when Marc Johnstone nearly sprung himself on consecutive shorthanded breakaways.
The momentum quickly shifted. Just over a minute after the penalty expired, Easton Cowan opened the scoring. Taking a cross-ice feed from Dakota Mermis at the top of the left circle, Cowan fired a wrist shot that squeezed through Cayden Primeau’s pads and slowly trickled across the goal line before the Wolves goaltender could recover.
By the midway point of the period, Toronto had already erased the eight-shot deficit it faced after the first. They kept coming. The Marlies outshot Chicago 17-4 in the second period and controlled much of the play for the remainder of the game. The Wolves generated a few quality opportunities, but Akhtyamov was outstanding whenever he was called upon. His second playoff shutout earned him first-star honours and may have significantly altered the Calder Cup playoff MVP conversation.
Related: Professor's Cup of Coffee: Morning Thoughts About Bruce Cassidy.
A Costly Mistake Ends Chicago's Chances.
What could have been a tense finish in a 1-0 game changed dramatically with 4:34 remaining. Chicago forward Nikita Pavlychev was assessed a five-minute major after levelling Toronto defenceman Henry Thrun behind the Marlies’ net.
I can understand why Wolves fans were unhappy with the call. Initially, there was no indication that a penalty would even be assessed. Once play stopped, the officials gathered for a lengthy discussion before ultimately ruling it a major penalty.
Personally, I think they reached the correct conclusion but cited the wrong infraction. The officials called charging. From my vantage point, it looked more like a hit to the head. Pavlychev, listed at 6-foot-7, appeared to make direct contact with Thrun’s head using his upper arm and shoulder. Thrun remained down for a short time before leaving the game. Head coach John Gruden had no update on his condition afterward.
The ensuing power play may have been the slowest and least eventful five-minute advantage I have ever watched.
The Marlies Played a Bit of Keep-a-Way.
Knowing his team held a one-goal lead and that Chicago would be aggressively pressuring for a shorthanded opportunity, Gruden simply rolled all four lines and all three defensive pairings. At one point, William Villeneuve casually stood behind the Toronto net with the puck, seemingly content to remain there indefinitely.
Only when the Wolves finally decided they should pressure him did the puck move. Chicago eventually pulled Cayden Primeau for an extra attacker, but caught an unfortunate break in the final seconds. With under 20 seconds remaining, the Wolves iced the puck while shorthanded. The officials initially made an incorrect icing call before correcting it and moving the ensuing faceoff to centre ice, a decision that ultimately benefited Toronto and drained even more precious time off the clock.
The Marlies Are One Win From a Championship.
Up until this game, it appeared Vinni Lettieri had the playoff MVP award all but sewn up. He didn't hurt his case either, picking up the secondary assist on Cowan’s goal to add to his league-leading postseason point total. Akhtyamov’s second shutout of the playoffs, however, may have turned the race into a two-horse battle.
Now the Marlies sit just one win away from a Calder Cup championship. Game 4 goes Thursday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
It still boggles my mind that this team could not only win the Calder Cup, but potentially do it with a four-game sweep. A month ago, that scenario would have seemed almost impossible.
Now it is just one win away.