TORONTO — Once upon a time, the Toronto Marlies were on the fritz.

Team morale had dipped to a dangerously low level heading into a mid-January break in the schedule.

“It seemed like nothing could go right for us,” recalled head coach Sheldon Keefe.

The losing side in 10 of 13 games and sitting seventh in the AHL’s seven-team North Division, the Marlies had been spiralling out of control. In particular, one-goal defeats — six of them in that 13-game span — had been chipping away at the group’s collective psyche.

The six-day pause in gameplay encouraged recalibration. Suddenly, there was room to breathe during practice, in the video room, away from the rink. A little TLC felt nice for the coaching staff and players of the Maple Leafs’ farm team.

Upon returning to action on Jan. 20, No. 1 goalie Garret Sparks found his rhythm and scoring winger Seth Griffith, claimed off waivers by the Leafs, joined the club and contributed immediately.

Over the next month and a bit, “things started to fall into place,” Keefe said, as the Marlies “were able to stop the bleeding” by stringing together 14 wins in an 18-game span.

“When Sparks was (putting in) consistent goaltending, when we got him going, you’re giving up two goals a game as opposed to three and suddenly we’re on the other side of one-goal games,” Keefe said.

Fast forward further, to the conclusion of the regular-season Saturday night, and one glance at the playoff brackets confirms the Marlies are no longer on the fritz. The baby Leafs managed to finish second in the North to draw the Albany Devils in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

Toronto has been on an impressive run (27-10-2-0) in the days, weeks and months since that January reset.

“We went through a lot of adversity, which I think is a good thing. I think it’s going to help us in the playoffs,” defenceman Andrew Campbell said. “Looking back on last year, we didn’t face any adversity until the playoffs. I think we’re a lot of more battle-tested this year. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs.”

The best-of-five series versus Albany — the North’s No. 3 seed and a team whom the Marlies needed seven games to beat in last season’s second round — starts Thursday. The Marlies are on the road for Games 1 and 2 before the series shifts to Toronto for Game 3 and, if necessarily, Games 4 and 5.

Steven Oleksy, acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins along with Eric Fehr and a draft pick at the NHL trade deadline, is no stranger to the AHL playoffs. The 31-year-old Marlies defenceman has post-season experience with four different AHL teams and says Toronto’s depth should come in handy in the coming weeks.

“I think we’ve got great balance throughout our lineup, which is really important throughout the playoffs. Any successful team has it,” said Oleksy, a former member of the Lake Erie Monsters (Blue Jackets), Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Islanders), Hershey Bears (Capitals) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Penguins).

“It’s a long road to get to the ultimate destination. Guys are going to get banged up, some guys aren’t going to be able to play every game. To have the depth that we do here, and the skill, and the grit, and the goaltending, we definitely have all the pieces. It’s about bringing all of those pieces together at the right time, which is now.”

Complementing Sparks, a top AHL goalie based on save percentage, is a humming power play. Forwards Kerby Rychel and Andreas Johnsson led the charge with 11 and nine PP goals, respectively, as Toronto set a new franchise record for regular-season PP efficiency (22.3%).

The Devils, who own a formidable penalty kill, allowed just 2.7 goals per game in the regular season. They have an excellent, young goaltending tandem in Mackenzie Blackwood and Ken Appleby.

Albany will not be an easy out for the Marlies but, once upon a time, nothing seemed easy for this back-from-the-dead club.

CALL HIM MR. CONSISTENT

As is tradition in the AHL, the Toronto Marlies continued to add bodies as the year wore on.

In total, 49 players (28 forwards, 14 defencemen and seven goalies) suited up for the Sheldon Keefe-coached squad during the 2016-17 regular season.

Some were NHL veterans pushed out of the league (see: Brooks Laich and Colin Greening). Others were waiting for an opening with the big club, such as Maple Leafs playoff hero Kasperi Kapanen. A bushel of players land somewhere between the extremes.

Of the 49, Keefe, who improved the most?

“One that really stands out as being a very consistent player for us all season long, I’d say, is Andreas Johnsson,” the bench boss said.

“He’s a guy who just really works hard. He’s been good on the power play, he’s added penalty kill responsibilities, leads our team in goals currently. He’s a guy that listens to what the coaches are asking (of him), goes out and makes very few mistakes. And if he does (make a mistake), it’s not for a lack of effort.”

Johnsson, a 22-year-old Swedish forward, bagged 20 goals and adding 27 assists for 47 points in 75 games.

Taken in the seventh round of the 2013 NHL draft, 202nd overall, Johnsson logged three seasons in Sweden’s top pro league before coming overseas to play for the Marlies last fall.

CHASING CALDER

Toronto Marlies (2nd in North Division) and Albany Devils (3rd in North) split a season series (3-3-1-1) and now face off in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs. First one to three wins advances:

Game 1: April 20 @ 7 p.m. in Albany (Times Union Center)

Game 2: April 22 @ 5 p.m. in Albany

Game 3: April 26 @ 7 p.m. in Toronto (Ricoh Coliseum)

*Game 4: April 28 @ 7 p.m. in Toronto

*Game 5: April 29 @ 7 p.m. in Toronto

jmatisz@postmedia.com