TORONTO

In all his Game 3 prep work, Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe couldn’t have been secretly working on a plan for three goals in 33 seconds late in the third period for a win.

Or was he?

It looked like he pressed all the right buttons on consecutive shifts Tuesday night at Ricoh Coliseum and suddenly it’s a contest again between the Maple Leafs’ farm team and the Syracuse Crunch.

Brendan Leipsic, new Maple Leafs signing Carl Grundstrom and Kasperi Kapanen all scored with Syracuse less than two minutes away from a 3-0 series lead. The 5-3 win gives the Marlies a chance to tie it Wednesday night at Ricoh.

“I certainly don’t think we’re able to predict it,” Keefe said. “The guys went out and executed, got a puck to the net (Leispic’s tying goal from Andrew Nielsen and Kapanen). You remind them while they’re celebrating we still have hockey to play and then we find a way to almost duplicate (Grundstrom’s winner from Seth Griffith and Steve Oleksy). Then we had to grab three forwards to get calm and finish the job (Kapanen on a breakaway). That’s playoff hockey, those things happen.”

STAR GAZING

It was one of the most bizarre three-star shows in recent Toronto hockey history, featuring two Swedes and a Finn.

No. 1 star Andreas Johnsson couldn’t come out because his face was a mess from a late-game fight, so runner-up Kapanen had to fill in with post-game on-ice comments for the crowd. Grundstrom, in his home debut, conjured up memories of Borje Salming’s first Leaf game. Named a star, the fresh-off-the-boat Salming had to be shoved out on the ice at the Gardens and though Grundstrom knew where to go, he was unsure about the rolled up T-shirt he was handed, eventually throwing it in the stands as requested.

Johnsson was getting all the love in the Toronto room afterwards for two early goals to erase a Crunch lead, giving him five in eight playoff games. But as the Marlies put the game away late, he and Crunch forward Yanni Gourde started swinging. The Swede was over-matched and left the ice with a towel over his bloodied features.

“I’m really surprised to see a Swede fight,” quipped the Finn Kapanen, adding “Johnny’s been magnificent for us in this series.”

BAB SHOP

Mike Babcock, in Paris scouting the world championships, keeping an eye on Mitch Marner and possible European signings, was asked by TSN’s Darren Dreger about the obvious positions the Leafs will look to upgrade next season.

“You’d like to think that there is a tree in your backyard and you could just go in and pluck that right-handed defenceman who can play 25 minutes and put him on your team,” the Leafs coach said, “or you pluck another heavy guy to play up front. But it doesn’t work like that. There is a cost in everything. If you’re going to acquire something, what is the cost?”

KERB YOUR ENTHUSIASM

After not practising Monday, Kerby Rychel was in a somewhat reduced role as winger with previous scratches Brett Findlay (who took injured Frederik Gauthier’s spot) and Dmytro Timashov (dropped for Game 2). Rychel, a former first-rounder granted change of scenery after some tough times in Columbus, has been a puzzler for Keefe this season.

“There are times through each game where Rychel shows what he’s capable of,” Keefe said before Game 1. “He’s a big, strong guy who gets in on the forecheck. When he’s working and skating, he’s a difference-maker and there’s times he gets away from that. So it’s finding consistency is what we’re striving for with him.

“Through the season, he has come a long way really trying to find himself. I don’t think he was happy with the way things finished in Columbus. He wanted to come here, find his game and we’re happy with how he’s progressed.”

SO LONG JAKE

Jake Dotchin was given a three-game AHL suspension for his Game 2 hit of Gauthier, a major penalty for interference, that ended the centre’s season with a severe leg injury that will sideline him six months. It’s the second straight spring a Marlie has been KO’d in the second round after Johnsson was gooned by Dan Kelly of Albany, who was given 10 games. As far as legal hits went, Albany’s physical game has been taking a far greater toll on the Marlies.

MCKENNA’S FAMILY AFFAIR

Syracuse goalie McKenna wears 56 in tribute to his father Terry’s racing number in his Sports Car Club of America days. But the McKenna name is known hockey circles around St. Louis and the U.S. Midwest.

McKenna’s grandfather Bill was a linesman in the CentraL League at the old St. Louis Arena in the 1960s, then moved to the scorers’ bench when the NHL Blues were created in 1967. Terry would inherit that job in the 1980s and often brought young Mike along to watch warm-ups, where he idolized Blues goalies such as future Leaf Curtis Joseph.

So it was a proud day five years ago when Mike signed with the Blues as part of the 34-year-old’s NHL odyssey. He didn’t get further than their Peoria farm team, but it was meaningful for the entire family. Many years earlier, Bill was invited to a dinner in Toronto to be honoured for his NHL service when Mike was a 10-year-old minor hockey stopper. Bill wrote a touching note on the margin of the banquet program, expressing his confidence Mike would one day make the NHL and gave it to Terry. Fifteen years later, after Bill passed, Mike won his first NHL game with the Lightning and Terry surprised him with the message.

ICE CHIPS

Keefe’s lineup juggling saw Kapanen and Grundstrom placed together, flanked by Cal O’Reilly ... Toronto continues to have trouble getting pucks through a diligent Syracuse defence despite lots of power-play time, though it did out-shoot the visitors 34-25 in Game 3 ... Adam Erne scored on a bad change by the Marlie defences, ex-Leaf Froese scored and Erik Condra had what looked like the game-winner for the Crunch ... Also on the bout card Tuesday, midget wrestling between the 5-foot-9 Leipsic and 5-8 Cory Conacher of the Crunch. “Something different,” agreed Leipsic. “Just one of those things that happen with two guys competing.”