Down and out? Not these Marlies, as their never-say-die attitude led to yet another remarkable comeback in the biggest period of their season.

Many times during the regular season, the Toronto Marlies found themselves behind and beaten to the casual observer. For anyone watching the team regularly, no deficit has appeared insurmountable to this young team, who have found different avenues to fight their way out of adversity.

Trailing 2-1 in game seven to a defensively-organized Devils team was just another test for the Marlies to come through. Were they able to do it once again, and turn the tables on the Albany Devils? Of course they were.

There were just eleven minutes left in Toronto’s season if Albany were able to keep the puck out of their net. Cue Kasperi Kapanen, as the Finnish winger got on his horse and sped like grease lightning through the neutral zone and past two Albany players. Pulling up at the top of the left circle, Kapanen weighed up his options before ripping a shot on net, using Reece Scarlett as a partial screen. Kapanen later admitted to not seeing his effort go in, but that’s what happened as he beat Scott Wedgewood short side with a strong release.

You could barely hear the announcement of the goal, such was the noise level inside Ricoh Coliseum, with the raucous home crowd celebrating and then proceeding to taunt Wedgewood.

With nine minutes remaining, Toronto were thankful to Antoine Bibeau for coming up with a big save to deny a booming slapshot from Nick Lappin. It looked an even better save 120 seconds later, when Kapanen combined with William Nylander — who was mouse-quiet before this point of the game — as the Swede drove the net at full speed. Nylander missed the target on the initial effort, but the pair of them kept the puck alive and Kapanen produced the perfect pass to Connor Carrick as the defenceman jumped into the play at the backdoor. The Marlies‘ leading points producer during the post-season made no mistake, placing the puck past Wedgewood’s stacked pads to give Toronto the lead.

The Marlies almost tallied an insurance marker thanks to some good work from Nikita Soshnikov. Steaming down the right wing, the Russian winger pulled up and put the puck perfectly on the tape of Ben Smith waiting in the left circle. Smith’s one timer was denied, leaving the game within reach with some nervous moments to follow for the Marlies.

Albany, to their credit, never let up for a second of this intense series and found a way to claw their way back. Fittingly, it was a huge hit that began the chain of events leading to the tying goal. Graham Black offloaded the puck to Marc Andre Gragnani, who backpeddled towards the middle of the ice, faking a shot before finding Paul Thompson in space. With the Marlies scrambling, Thompson ripped a one-timer top shelf past the out-stretched glove of Bibeau.

Toronto had to withstand some pressure from the Devils following that goal, but upon regaining possession scored on their next zone entry.

It was a fantastic effort from all five skaters on the ice as Rich Clune, Ben Smith, Nikita Soshnikov, Viktor Loov and Stuart Percy all contributed to the game winner. It wasn’t pretty, but nobody in a Marlie sweater cared — least of all Rich Clune. After Soshnikov’s shot was deflected wide of the net and wickedly bounced off the back wall, Wedgewood could not get across to his left post in time to stop Clune from chipping the puck into the net, followed by a celebration for the ages from the fan favourite.

Game over? Far from it, as Albany pulled Wedgewood with 1:20 to play and threw the kitchen sink at Toronto.

Thompson hit the post, although Bibeau may have had the effort covered. A zonal clearance from the Marlies led to a huge cheer from the crowd before a timeout set everyone‘s nerves on edge. Just 49 seconds remained, but most of those were killed on the back boards by the sheer grit and determination of Ben Smith and returning captain Andrew Campbell. Play was only whistled down when Connor Carrick and Mike Sislo were both sent to the box after taking numerous hacks at one another.

There were only 14.9 seconds left after the offsetting penalties, but still the drama wasn’t finished. At the last gasp, Lappin brought a fine save from Bibeau before the rebound fell to Joseph Blandisi – the player all Marlies fans have loved to hate in this series — in front of goal. Bibeau launched himself at the loose puck and somehow made the last save of the game as the clock showed zero and Toronto prevailed to win both the game and the series 4-3 in thrilling style.

It had all began so well for the Marlies, who looked unlikely to need such third-period heroics in the opening 20 minutes. Taking the bull by the horns, Toronto played their fast paced, up-tempo brand of hockey which Albany could barely handle at times during the first period.

It took all of 74 seconds to fashion the first chance as Zach Hyman went wide around his man before driving to the crease, with Wedgewood denying the rookie from opening the scoring.

After the first penalty of the game went to Viktor Loov for a high hit, Connor Brown intercepted a pass from Gragnani in neutral ice and took off to the races shorthanded. Brown showed good patience before beating Wedgewood with a backhand effort to put Toronto up 1-0 with 2:56 on the clock.

Toronto were able to hem Albany deep in their own zone on a number of shifts, but couldn’t establish the goals advantage their play warranted in the first 15 minutes. The Devils could have tied the game with a little over five minutes remaining, when Kapanen coughed up the puck to Chris McKelvie, allowing what appeared to be a breakaway. Loov chased the forward down, with some help from the backchecking Kapanen, to negate the danger.

Toward the end of the opening frame, Bibeau did well to hang onto a blast from Corbin McPherson through traffic, while Wedgewood absolutely robbed Josh Leivo after a great drive to the net from the Marlie winger — the last two chances of the period.

The Marlies held a slender lead through 20 that didn‘t last long into the second period as the Devils came roaring out of the gate and tied the game up 46 seconds in. Black should have scored but hit the post before Paul Thompson levelled the proceedings from in front after a weird bounce.

The Marlies were limited to just four shots on net in the period, with the Devils clamping down on the neutral zone and holding their own blueline effectively to negate the Marlies speed advantage off the rush. The Devils should have taken the lead with eight to play in the middle frame, but Bibeau came up with a pair of tremendous saves to deny Brian O’Neill and McKelvie, and could only watch as Reid Boucher hit the post with half an empty net to aim at.

The last scoring opportunity in the period fell to Toronto as a result of a poor line change from the Devils. Colin Smith and Soshnikov combined, with the latter’s shot producing a rebound that Brennan was unable to corral in time to shoot into a vacant net.

It looked as if a weak call and a poor faceoff broke Toronto’s hearts early in the third period. Leivo was called for a marginal hooking penalty, made worse by the timing and the fact that the officials had let far worse go unpunished from both teams up until that point.

With a second left on the penalty, Toronto lost an offensive zone draw, with the puck literally dropped onto the shaft of O’Brien’s stick rather than the centre of the dot. Sam Carrick was incensed after losing the faceoff as he watched Boucher’s shot stopped by Bibeau before Lappin put home the rebound to put the visitors 2-1 in front.

The mood of Toronto’s bench was not helped shortly after when Mark Arcobello was checked from behind head-first into the end boards with no call forthcoming from the officials.

The Marlies were required to trust in one another, stick with the structure and believe in their offensive capabilities. They did just that, earning a dramatic victory to punch their ticket to the Conference Finals.

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Post Game Notes

– Connor Brown netted his second shorthanded goal of the playoffs and his sixth overall.

– Rich Clune’s goal was his first ever during the post-season, a game winner scored with 2:30 remaining. I don’t think we could’ve scripted a better moment as the Marlies’ unsung hero/fan favourite took center stage with the biggest goal of Toronto’s season. That fourth line — Clune, Ben Smith and Nikita Soshnikov — was effective for much of the 60 minutes and deserved the reward.

– A multi-point playoff game for Kasperi Kapanen, who is building a reputation for scoring big goals in his young hockey career. He’s up to seven points in nine post-season outings.

– The banged-up Nikita Soshnikov returned to action and recorded his first assist of the playoffs after scoring four goals through five games. It was the primary helper on Clune’s game winner.

– Andrew Campbell returned to action, in a curveball thrown by Sheldon Keefe, creating an experienced defensive unit featuring C. Carrick, Loov, Percy, Brennan, Holl and Campbell. Certainly was an asset to have the veteran back for the final minute of the game.

– Antoine Bibeau turned aside 25 shots to earn his fifth win of the post season.

Here is the Conference Final schedule vs. Hershey. A full series preview will come later this week.

Game Highlights

Sheldon Keefe Post Game

Marlies Player Stats – Toronto 4 vs. Albany 3