Marlies' Offence Kept At Bay; Bears Win Series
TORONTO — The high-flying offence of the Toronto Marlies was a sensation at times in the regular season and a glimmer of hope for the future of the parent Maple Leafs.
But in the playoffs you have to play defence, no matter what level of hockey, a hard-lesson learned from the American Hockey League regular-season champs.
The Marlies were guilty of meek start on a steamy Sunday afternoon at Ricoh Coliseum, ultimately falling 3-2 to an overall more diligent Hershey Bears team and losing the best-of-seven series, 4-1.
The Marlies showed resilience in defeat, climbing out of a 3-0 hole early in the second period to make a game out of it in an exciting third. A furious late bid, with goaltender Antoine Bibeau pulled for an extra attacker, fell short, though.
A couple of Toronto defensive breakdowns early in the second period resulted in a pair of Hershey goals just 64 seconds apart to open up the big lead. Oddly, it took that burst to ramp up the level of urgency for the Marlies, however, by then they were doomed.
In contrast, the Bears were far more difficult on defence, essentially shutting down the slot.
Typical of the ongoing work Leafs coach Mike Babcock and the rest of his staff will do with young prospects was the play of Willie Nylander. A nifty tip-in got the Marlies on the scoreboard at 8:05 of the second, cutting the Bears lead to 3-1.
But moments earlier, Nylander was caught on a lazy backcheck that led to a Liam O’Brien goal for the Bears, 69 seconds into the period. When a wide open Nathan Walker made it 3-0 just 64 seconds later, the Marlies were losing 3-0 and in a fight for their playoff lives.
Ultimately, Toronto’s inability to keep the offence humming conspired to a surprisingly quick exit against a fast, hard-checking Bears team. In the four losses, they scored a combined six goals, only topping two scores once, in Friday’s 5-0 Game 4 victory.
Give credit to Hershey for a solid game plan to combat that offence, though the Marlies were guilty of apparent indifference on too many occasions in the series.
Game 1 in Hershey was a disaster from the start followed by a game in which they vastly outplayed the Bears but couldn’t buy a goal. That was followed by the Game 3 embarrassment back here, an 8-2 blowout in which both Toronto goaltenders were awful.
In fact, it wouldn’t be a leap to suggest that goaltending was the difference in the series. Justin Peters, a journeyman with NHL experience, raised his level noticeably while the Marlies struggled in net, Antoine Bibeau’s Game 4 shutout aside.
Sunday’s game began as a perfect first period for the Bears, played on less-than-ideal ice conditions on a steamy afternoon. The pace of play was plodding, whistles were frequent and the Marlies generated little offence and showed next to no urgency.
In fact, if it weren’t for the stellar play of Bibeau in the Toronto net, the damage could have been much worse. Bibeau made a handful of good saves, including a patient block of Bears star Jacub Vrana on a penalty shot.
The Bears now move on to face the Lake Erie Monsters in the Calder Cup final. The Cleveland-based Monsters swept the Ontario Reign, 4-0, in the Western Conference final.
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http://www.torontosun.com/2016/05/29/marlies-offence-kept-at-bay-bears-win-series
