Miro the Hero a Phantom menace
Aaltonen’s OT winner third goal in two games in Eastern showdown
The bigger the game, the bigger the moment, the more it looks like the line of Miro Aaltonen centring Andreas Johnsson and Carl Grundstrom could be a quality unit for some time.
They’re behind the offence that runs the Toronto Marlies.
But it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that the three European-trained forwards could work their magic together with the Maple Leafs one day.
Grundstrom tied the game in the third period and Aaltonen scored the OT winner, on a pass from Johnsson, as the Marlies beat the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3-2 to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven AHL Eastern Conference final on Sunday.
“I knew we would win that game,” said Aaltonen, a Finn who starred in the KHL last year. “We had confidence. We kept rolling, and we scored.”
Aaltonen finished the winning play — his third goal in two games — that started in the Marlies end and was aided by Calle Rosen joining the rush to help with some tic-tac-toe passing.
“There was some real nice creativity and execution on that play,” said Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe. “They don’t usually look like that in overtime. It was a nice one.”
There was more than one big play on the Marlies’ side. Travis Dermott broke up a two-onone after defence partner Timothy Liljegren got caught up ice. And goalie Garret Sparks made a huge glove save soon after to keep the game tied. The 7,000plus at Ricoh Coliseum chanted Sparks’ name.
“It was a special moment for me in-game,” said Sparks, who faced 37 shots. “I’m trying to have a lot of fun with what we’re doing. That’s definitely the loudest I’ve heard anybody cheer for me in five years here. I just want to keep it going. I enjoyed it.”
The Marlies are 3-0 in over- time in the Calder Cup playoffs.
“I don’t like to lose games,” said Sparks. “I definitely don’t like to lose games in overtime. So when you get into an overtime period, it’s just: How many saves can you make? How long can you do it? I feel like if you keep doing it long enough, you give your team a chance to cap- italize.”
Aaltonen just smiled and deflected praise when someone dubbed him “Miro the Hero” after his winner, but his teammates showered it upon him.
“You’re never going to hear anybody on this team belittle the efforts of Miro Aaltonen,” said Sparks. “He’s a key cog of this team. He’s not a flashy player by any means. He does highly skilled things at great rates of speed. They seem second-nature to him.
“I’m not surprised that a guy like that, who plays as hard as he does and takes as much pride in his game as he does and has as much fun as he does, is having success here.”
Aaltonen and Johnsson had chemistry all season, playing the first few months with Kasperi Kapanen on the right side — until he was called up by the Maple Leafs in January. When Johnsson was called up in March, Keefe searched for the right players to work with the creative Aaltonen.
“He’s playing with creative people, and when it’s his turn to move the puck he makes a play,” Keefe said of Aaltonen. “When it’s his turn to drive the net, he finds a way to be in a good spot. Johnsson is a great passer. Grundstrom is more of a shooter. Aaltonen is a great finisher, too. When Johnsson has the puck, he has options.”
Keefe’s problem was solved when the Leafs returned Johnsson to the Marlies after the playoffs, and Grundstrom joined the Marlies after his Swedish league season. “Once we knew Johnsson would come back and we knew Carl was coming over, we thought he’d be a nice fit. (Grundstrom) likes to play the right side even though he’s a left shot. With his skill set and the finishing ability he has, we thought it would work out well, and it has.”
The series moves to Allentown, Pa., for Game 3 on Wednesday.