Marlies Set for Round Two
April 30, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Toronto Marlies News Release
The Toronto Marlies are set to face the Cleveland Monsters in the second round of the 2019 Calder Cup Playoffs. Game One of the North Division Finals will take place on Wednesday, May 1 at Coca-Cola Coliseum at 7:00 p.m. ET. Toronto defeated the Rochester Americans 3-1 on Wednesday to sweep the best-of-five series. The North Division Finals will follow the standard seven game series format with Toronto starting at home for the first two games of the series.
The second round series marks the first postseason meeting between these two teams. This is the Monsters' first postseason appearance since winning the Calder Cup in 2016. After sneaking into playoff contention as the last team to secure their spot, the Monsters handled the division leading Syracuse Crunch handily with a 3-1 series win, proving they are not to be taken lightly. Toronto and Cleveland met eight times during the regular season, with the Monsters taking the season series 5-3. Those meetings were close offensive battles with five of the eight contests requiring an extra time decision.
After sweeping the Americans in the first round, the Marlies will look to draw from the systems that brought success against Rochester; goaltending and special teams. Kasimir Kaskisuo was stellar between the pipes, turning away 97 of 101 shots in the opening round series sweep. The Marlies were 25% on the power play and nearly perfect (88.9%) on the penalty kill, allowing only one goal in nine Rochester power play opportunities. The Marlies have also added some depth to their lineup with the return of Calle Rosen, Trevor Moore and Michael Hutchinson.
Following a week-long break from game action, Sheldon Keefe expressed the team's eagerness to get this series started, adding "you get to prepare, be a little more thorough in your preparations and also spread out what you provide the players, not have to overwhelm them. So, it's been good. We've had a sufficient amount of time and I think we've had a good process to be able to prepare and now we're just anxious to play the games."
Puck drops at 7:00PM on Leafs Nation Network, TSN 2 and AHL TV. Fans across Canada can also stream the game live in the Maple Leafs app. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for behind-the-scenes access at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Head to Head (2019 Calder Cup Playoffs)
3-0-0-0 Overall Record 3-1-0-0
0-0-0-0 Head To Head 0-0-0-0
Win 3 Streak Win 1
10 Goals For 14
4 Goals Against 6
25% Power Play Percentage 6.7%
88.9% Penalty Kill Percentage 71.4%
A. Brooks (4) Leading Goal Scorer M. Letestu (2)
C. Mueller (5) Leading Points Scorer S. Milano (6)
K. Kaskisuo (3) Wins Leader B. Thiessen (3)
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