Calder Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarterfinals – Game 1 – Toronto Leads Series, 1-0

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4 at Toronto Marlies 7

April 25, 2015

TORONTO – Teemu Pulkkinen scored twice in his first AHL game since March 6 to provide an anticipated boost to the Griffins’ offense, but the team’s defensive breakdowns resulted in Grand Rapids dropping Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals by a 7-4 count to the Toronto Marlies on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.

The Griffins overcame a Marlies goal in the opening minute and an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead midway through the contest, before Toronto tallied a momentum-turning goal in the final moments of the second period to seize a 4-3 advantage that it would not relinquish.

Toronto will host Game 2 of the best-of-five series at 3 p.m. Sunday before action switches to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday for the first of as many as three games.

The Marlies needed only 26 seconds and a fortunate bounce to get on the scoreboard first. Off a faceoff win in the Griffins’ zone, T.J. Brennan launched a slap shot from the right point that deflected off the stick of Tomas Nosek in the slot and sailed over Tom McCollum’s glove.

Andreas Athanasiou almost tied it at the 7:30 mark, taking a pass at center ice, bursting through two defenders and speeding in alone on Christopher Gibson, who denied the rookie’s wrister with a right pad save.

After killing off a too-many-men penalty, the Griffins once again nearly scored with Athanasiou in the box for a faceoff violation, when Zach Nastasiuk’s backhand from close quarters rang off the pipe. The Marlies eventually grabbed a 2-0 lead just two seconds after that penalty expired, as Greg McKegg pounded home a pass from Connor Brown with 7:05 left in the frame.

Awarded 39 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play late in the period, Grand Rapids tallied its first goal of the postseason shortly after its advantage had shrunk to one man, when Athanasiou poked a rebound past Gibson at the 17:04 mark.

It was the Griffins’ turn to strike early once the second period commenced. Pulkkinen, the AHL’s goal scoring champ who was assigned by the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, scored on his own rebound from the slot at the 40-second mark to knot the score at 2-2.

Gibson thwarted Athanasiou’s opportunity for a shorthanded scoring chance eight minutes into the period by beating him in a race to an errant outlet pass, but the Marlies would still surrender the Griffins’ third unanswered tally at 10:12. Louis-Marc Aubry took a pass from Marek Tvrdon while skating backward just inside the left circle and quickly fired a shot that snuck inside the far post of the unsuspecting netminder.

But the Marlies would take a 4-3 lead into the final 20 minutes thanks to a pair of goals in the last 4:29 of the period. Matt Rupert made the Griffins pay for a turnover deep in their zone by scoring on a redirection from the goal mouth to forge the game’s second tie, before Byron Froese chopped a backhand past McCollum from the slot with just four ticks showing on the clock.

Brendan Leipsic’s one-timer from the right faceoff dot 5:51 into the third gave Toronto its second two-goal lead of the afternoon, and Jack Rodewald notched the home squad’s fourth straight goal at 11:19 from the bottom of the left circle to make it a 6-3 contest.

Pulkkinen added his second goal during a power play with 5:09 remaining, rushing down the left side to pop Anthony Mantha’s feed into a yawning net, but Josh Leivo scored into an empty cage at 18:03 for his fourth point of the game.

Grand Rapids had lost only two previous games in its playoff history when scoring four goals, but the Griffins were hamstrung by an uncharacteristic six minor penalties, several turnovers that ended up in their net, and a 35-28 disadvantage in shots.

McCollum turned aside 28 of 34, while Gibson authored 24 saves and a victory in his AHL postseason debut.

Notes: The loss was just the second for the Griffins in seven all-time playoff games at Ricoh Coliseum…Grand Rapids’ special teams had the upper hand on both ends of the ice, going 2-for-5 on the power play while stifling all six of the Marlies’ opportunities…The Griffins have trailed 0-1 in a best-of-five series twice before, most recently rallying from a 3-0 loss in their 2013 playoff opener in Houston to win that series in five games and, three rounds later, claim their first-ever championship…McCollum made his first start and second postseason appearance of his six-year Griffins career, while Mantha, Nosek, Tvrdon and Mark Zengerle each made his Calder Cup Playoffs debut.

Three Stars: 1. TOR Leivo (goal, three assists); 2. TOR Brown (two assists); 3. GR Pulkkinen (two goals)

Calder Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Quarterfinals – Game 1 – Toronto Leads Series, 1-0

GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS 4 at Toronto Marlies 7

April 25, 2015

TORONTO – Teemu Pulkkinen scored twice in his first AHL game since March 6 to provide an anticipated boost to the Griffins’ offense, but the team’s defensive breakdowns resulted in Grand Rapids dropping Game 1 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals by a 7-4 count to the Toronto Marlies on Saturday at Ricoh Coliseum.

The Griffins overcame a Marlies goal in the opening minute and an early 2-0 deficit to take a 3-2 lead midway through the contest, before Toronto tallied a momentum-turning goal in the final moments of the second period to seize a 4-3 advantage that it would not relinquish.

Toronto will host Game 2 of the best-of-five series at 3 p.m. Sunday before action switches to Van Andel Arena on Wednesday for the first of as many as three games.

The Marlies needed only 26 seconds and a fortunate bounce to get on the scoreboard first. Off a faceoff win in the Griffins’ zone, T.J. Brennan launched a slap shot from the right point that deflected off the stick of Tomas Nosek in the slot and sailed over Tom McCollum’s glove.

Andreas Athanasiou almost tied it at the 7:30 mark, taking a pass at center ice, bursting through two defenders and speeding in alone on Christopher Gibson, who denied the rookie’s wrister with a right pad save.

After killing off a too-many-men penalty, the Griffins once again nearly scored with Athanasiou in the box for a faceoff violation, when Zach Nastasiuk’s backhand from close quarters rang off the pipe. The Marlies eventually grabbed a 2-0 lead just two seconds after that penalty expired, as Greg McKegg pounded home a pass from Connor Brown with 7:05 left in the frame.

Awarded 39 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play late in the period, Grand Rapids tallied its first goal of the postseason shortly after its advantage had shrunk to one man, when Athanasiou poked a rebound past Gibson at the 17:04 mark.

It was the Griffins’ turn to strike early once the second period commenced. Pulkkinen, the AHL’s goal scoring champ who was assigned by the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, scored on his own rebound from the slot at the 40-second mark to knot the score at 2-2.

Gibson thwarted Athanasiou’s opportunity for a shorthanded scoring chance eight minutes into the period by beating him in a race to an errant outlet pass, but the Marlies would still surrender the Griffins’ third unanswered tally at 10:12. Louis-Marc Aubry took a pass from Marek Tvrdon while skating backward just inside the left circle and quickly fired a shot that snuck inside the far post of the unsuspecting netminder.

But the Marlies would take a 4-3 lead into the final 20 minutes thanks to a pair of goals in the last 4:29 of the period. Matt Rupert made the Griffins pay for a turnover deep in their zone by scoring on a redirection from the goal mouth to forge the game’s second tie, before Byron Froese chopped a backhand past McCollum from the slot with just four ticks showing on the clock.

Brendan Leipsic’s one-timer from the right faceoff dot 5:51 into the third gave Toronto its second two-goal lead of the afternoon, and Jack Rodewald notched the home squad’s fourth straight goal at 11:19 from the bottom of the left circle to make it a 6-3 contest.

Pulkkinen added his second goal during a power play with 5:09 remaining, rushing down the left side to pop Anthony Mantha’s feed into a yawning net, but Josh Leivo scored into an empty cage at 18:03 for his fourth point of the game.

Grand Rapids had lost only two previous games in its playoff history when scoring four goals, but the Griffins were hamstrung by an uncharacteristic six minor penalties, several turnovers that ended up in their net, and a 35-28 disadvantage in shots.

McCollum turned aside 28 of 34, while Gibson authored 24 saves and a victory in his AHL postseason debut.

Notes: The loss was just the second for the Griffins in seven all-time playoff games at Ricoh Coliseum…Grand Rapids’ special teams had the upper hand on both ends of the ice, going 2-for-5 on the power play while stifling all six of the Marlies’ opportunities…The Griffins have trailed 0-1 in a best-of-five series twice before, most recently rallying from a 3-0 loss in their 2013 playoff opener in Houston to win that series in five games and, three rounds later, claim their first-ever championship…McCollum made his first start and second postseason appearance of his six-year Griffins career, while Mantha, Nosek, Tvrdon and Mark Zengerle each made his Calder Cup Playoffs debut.

Three Stars: 1. TOR Leivo (goal, three assists); 2. TOR Brown (two assists); 3. GR Pulkkinen (two goals)