>SEVENS UP
Scoring and first career scrap give club post-season spark: ‘It was a big adrenaline rush’
3-7
Alex Ovechkin’s career record in Game 7s.
4-3
Sidney Crosby’s Game 7 record after Wednesday night’s victory in Washington.
Andreas Johnsson was, quite literally, a sight for sore eyes.
His left eye was black, his left nostril held in place by stitches. But his smile was wide Wednesday as the diminutive Swede laughed about his first hockey fight.
“I did not win,” the Toronto Marlies winger said of his Game 3 tilt with Syracuse’s Yanni Gourde. “It was a big adrenaline rush. He dropped his glove and I had a quick second to think, and I dropped them. It was nothing I usually do, but it was fun to experience.”
The fight happened in Tuesday’s contest between the Marlies and Syracuse Crunch — who played Game 4 on Wednesday night, the Marlies winning 3-2 to tie the bestof-seven series at two games apiece.
It came with 55 seconds remaining, right after the Marlies had scored three goals in a span of 33 seconds to secure a 5-3 win, their first in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The fight negated a fourth goal, into an empty net, that would have made it four goals in 61seconds. The Marlie said it was worth it.
“He put an elbow in my face, and I asked him what was going on,” said Johnsson. “Then he dropped them and I dropped them, too. It happened very quick.”
Johnsson is among the Leafs prospects drawing praise from coach Sheldon Keefe in the post-season. He had four goals through three games, including a pair in the second period of Game 3 to help get the Marlies back in the series.
“Andreas Johnsson has had a hard time with that face all year,” said Keefe. “He seems to get hit with more sticks and pucks than anyone. He got in that fight, but there is never a shortage of wounds on his face. He earns every one of them because he gets down and he gets physical and gets involved in so many things.”
It’s been quite a year for five-foot-10 Johnsson, a seventh-round pick from the 2013 draft who blossomed offensively in the Swedish Hockey League. He joined the Marlies a year ago and suffered a concussion in his first game — against the Albany Devils in the playoffs.
In his rookie AHL season, he finished with 20 goals and 27 assists thanks to a surge in the second half.
“The first half of the season, I felt like I wasn’t playing as well as I could,” said Johnsson. “In the second half, I felt I had better timing in my game, and found better spots for those golden opportunities to score or pass.”
Johnsson figured he was going to fight at some point: “It’s not like you’re looking for it, but it’s nice that it happened.” Some teammates ribbed him. Kasperi Kapanen, a Finn, joked that he was surprised a Swede would fight.
“They told me stick to what I know,” said Johnsson. But they’re also inspired by it. “Any time a guy drops the gloves, you’ve got to give him credit,” said linemate Seth Griffith. “It was good to see, and he had a couple of goals. You know what he’s going to bring every night — that he’s going to work hard.”
Keefe said Johnsson wasn’t fighting to impress.
“It shows his competitiveness. It shows that you care, that you’re engaged. It’s not an easy thing to do, to engage like that, for a guy that’s never fought. These are the kinds of things that reveal themselves in playoffs. That’s why it’s so vital for the development of young players to play in games like this for as long as you can.”
The fight, more than any goal, might become one of the defining moments of Johnsson’s career.
“He’ll have a scar to remind himself,” said Keefe. “These kind of things do stay with you. At the same time, Johnsson’s got a long career ahead of him and will have many more things to remember, as well.”