Suddenly, Marlies find themselves in a tough spot

For the first time since 2017, Toronto trails in a Calder Cup playoff series

CHRIS MUELLER

TORONTO — A little adversity might go a long way for the Toronto Marlies.

They trail in a playoff series for the first time since 2017. When they won the Calder Cup last year, the Marlies either led or were tied in each of their four series. And they won their first eight games of the playoffs this year. But they have lost the second and third games of the American Hockey League’s East final and trail the Charlotte Checkers two games to one with Game 4 on Thursday (7 p.m., Coca-Cola Coliseum).

“You’re in a playoff series, you have to respond,” Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe said. “When you lose two in a row in a playoff series, it puts you in a tough spot. We’re going to come back here and play on home ice. Two games are going to come at us in a hurry. We have a chance to respond.

“That’s what you need to do. That’s what their team did when they were down in a hole in Game 2. They found their way back. We have to be able to respond.”

The Marlies hadn’t had problems scoring in the playoffs, but suddenly have gone cold. After going up 3-0 by 4:52 of the second period of Game 2, the Marlies allowed Charlotte to score the next 10 goals. That run finally ended when Mason Marchment got one with the extra man with 2:10 remaining in Game 3. The Marlies went 1-for-7 on the power play in that game.

“Playoffs aren’t supposed to be easy,” Marlies centre Chris Mueller said. “I’m not going to say they were easy but things were going our way, the bounces were going our way.

“Sometimes good teams get bounces. They had the more

Playoffs aren’t supposed to be easy. I’m not going to say they were easy but things were going our way, the bounces were going our way.

Marlies centre

fortunate bounces (in Game 3) but they earned that. We weren’t getting the bounces we were getting before.

“We’ve just got to bear down, believe in ourselves. We’ve got a very good hockey team. We’ve got to rebound. Like I said, playoffs aren’t supposed to be easy. That’s what makes winning so gratifying and so special.”

Despite the Marlies’ playoff success, the Checkers are the cream of the crop in the East. The top farm team of the Carolina Hurricanes was the AHL’s best team in the regular season. The lineup includes a few players from recent Canadian world junior rosters, like winger Julien Gauthier and defencemen Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury. Tomas Jurco, a former NHLer in Detroit and Chicago, is also doing some damage, and goalie Alex Nedeljkovic has put on a stellar performance.

“We have to go through (Tuesday’s loss) and see what we did right and see what we did wrong,” Marlies defenceman Rasmus Sandin said. “We’ll take away what we can and be better for the next one.”

Goalie Michael Hutchinson made his first appearance of the post-season Tuesday and recorded three saves in the third period. Kasimir Kaskisuo had stopped 19 of 22 shots in two periods of work.