TORONTO —

It was easy to assume Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe was playing a hunch when he decided to double shift one of the hottest prospects in the Maple Leafs system on Friday night.

In reality, however, Keefe was trying to light a fire under Willie Nylander and get his high-flying team back into the thick of the Eastern Conference final against the Hershey Bears.

It worked to perfection with Nylander’s first hat trick of his AHL career leading to a 5-0 win and the pervasive feeling amongst the Marlies that they are right back in the best-of-seven series, despite trailing three games to one.

“I knew he had more to give,” Keefe said of Nylander following an optional skate Sunday at the Ricoh Coliseum where Game 5 will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. “We challenged our guys to have big games, step up and get us rolling. I felt strongly that we needed more from Willie. In order to get more, you’ve got to give him more.”

Prior to Friday’s big Game 4 win over the Bears, the 20-year-old Nylander had just one goal in his previous seven games. Marlies brass was getting concerned about his play away from the puck, which was cutting down his possession time.

So for the crucial potential elimination game, Keefe did a couple of things to get arguably his best player engaged and contributing. He dressed 11 forwards to free up more ice time for Nylander and he shifted him to the wing to create more opportunities to get the puck on his stick.

“We played him on the wing an a lot of things changed for him,” Keefe said. “He responded very well — and not just with goals. I thought he competed hard and he had the puck a ton. When a guy like him has the puck, that much and generates that many shots, they’re going to find a way to go in eventually.”

The changes might have seemed risky at first, given that Nylander had struggled. Had he hit a wall after a busy first season in North America pro hockey? Was he hurt? Was the playoff pressure too much?

Instead, the 2014 first-round pick responded with one of his best games yet.

“I thought he wasn’t as competitive away form the puck and when that’s the case, he’s not going to have it a lot,” Keefe said of some of his play earlier in the series. “And when you don’t have the puck, you’re not playing to your strengths. The (Bears) are a hard team to play against.

“When he’s playing centre, that takes away from the offence in and of itself.”

Nylander’s teammates knew there was more in him as well, hoping at least that it was just a matter of time for the goals to come in a flood.

“You’ve seen him all year, he’s a hell of a player,” said winger Josh Leivo. “That was a little coming out party and hopefully he can keep that coming for the rest of the series.”

There’s more from Friday’s game that the Marlies would like to duplicate, including success on the power play. After going 0-for-12 on the power play in the series, they connected for three in the third period.

Part of the success could be attributed to going hard to the net and making life difficult on goaltender Justin Peters, who was clearly rattled in the third.

“You could see they were a little frustrated,” said Leivo, who was in Peter’s grill when he scored the Marlies third goal and later took a blocker to the face. “We’re trying to get to that net and cause some trouble. We’ve got to keep with that mentality.”

As a result of the breakout, the Marlies are hoping momentum will carry over into Sunday’s matinee where a win would force a return to Hershey for Game 6 on Tuesday. Prior to that crucial first win, they had managed just five goals in three games against the tight-checking Bears.

Only three teams in AHL history have overcome a three-game series hole, however, a reality not lost on Keefe.

“(The scoring outburst) gave us some breathing room in that game, but just that game,” Keefe said. “I don’t think it changes our situation, other than we’re one game closer to get out of the hole.

“We’re laying in the hole and the dirt’s on top of us. We’ve pushed some of that dirt out of the way to take a breath. That’s all it is.”

rlongley@postmedia.com

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