Toronto: B. Smith (1) (N. Chadwick, J. Quillan), R. Johnson (1) (M. Johnstone, M. Pezzetta), V. Lettieri (5) (W. Villeneuve, D. Mermis)
Goaltender: A. Akhtyamov (20/22) W
Laval: O. Beck (2) (S. Blais, L. Condotta), O. Beck (3) PP (L. Dauphin, S. Blais)
Goaltender: K. Kähkönen (16/19) L
- Blake Smith put the Marlies on the board at 13:50 of the second period. This was his first goal of the postseason in his first game.
- Reese Johnson scored at 4:57 of the third period. This was his first goal of the postseason.
- Vinni Lettieri scored the game-winning goal at 10:22 of the third period. This was his first game-winning goal of the postseason. He has nine points (5 goals, 4 assists) in eight games this postseason.
- Noah Chadwick recorded the primary assist on Smith’s second period goal. He has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in eight games this postseason.
- Jacob Quillan had the secondary assist on Smith’s second period goal. He has three assists in eight postseason games.
- Marc Johnstone registered the primary assist on Johnson’s third period goal. He has two assists in eight postseason games.
- Micheal Pezzetta picked up the secondary assist on Johnson’s third period goal. He has two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in eight postseason games.
- William Villeneuve recorded the primary assist on Lettieri’s third period goal. He has eight points (1 goal, 7 assists) in eight postseason games.
- Dakota Mermis had the secondary assist on Lettieri’s third period goal. He has five assists in eight games this postseason.
- Artur Akhtyamov stopped 20 of 22 shots he faced. He is 4-2-0 this postseason with a 2.14 goals against average and a 0.917 save percentage.
| TEAM NOTES Toronto advanced to the North Division Finals facing the Cleveland Monsters in a best-of-five series beginning at Rocket Arena on Thursday, May 14. This will be Toronto’s third time facing Cleveland in the playoffs. Toronto is 1-1 against Cleveland, sweeping the Monsters in the North Division Finals in 2019 and falling in Round 1 in 2025.Toronto is 15-9-4 in elimination games.The Marlies were 0-for-1 on the penalty kill and 0-for-2 on the power play. Toronto is 1-3-0 when not scoring on the power play and 3-1-0 when allowing a goal on the penalty kill.Laval outshot Toronto 22-19. Alex Nylander led the Marlies with three shots on net. Toronto is 2-2-0 when outshot by their opponent. |
| MARLIES LEADERS Goals 5 (V. Lettieri) Assists 7 (W. Villeneuve) Points 9 (V. Lettieri) PPG 3 (V. Lettieri, L. Shaw) Shots 22 (A. Nylander) +/- +4 (D. Mermis, C. Paré) PIMS 36 (M. Pezzetta) |
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH JOHN GRUDEN
On today’s game:
You could sense with the way the game felt, the way it was going, I thought there were some moments where I’m like we’re taking this over. Even though we were down 2-1, just the way we were starting to play and I knew we had to go out there and execute it which the players did an unbelievable job with that I knew we were going to get that next one and then get the one after that. All the credit goes to the players and Artie made some big saves when he needed to but we stayed with it and we didn’t stray away from the process and again, that’s a great road win against a really good hockey team.
UPCOMING GAMES:
*All times Eastern Standard Time
Game 1 – May 14 at Cleveland, 7:00 p.m.
Game 2 – May 16 at Cleveland, 7:00 p.m.
Game 3 – May 20 vs. Cleveland, 7:00 p.m.
*Game 4 – May 22 vs. Cleveland, 7:00 p.m.
*Game 5 – May 24 at Cleveland, 3:00 p.m.
