The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins won a second straight game on the road to even their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Toronto Marlies at 2-2. It was a wild back-and-forth affair that saw Toronto jump out to a 2-0 lead due to two uncharacteristic Sergei Murashov miscues in the first period, followed by WBS scoring three-straight second period goals to take a lead. Toronto would respond on a power play goal in the third with just under seven minutes to play to tie the game.
The final twist of the game would come when Rutger McGroarty scored a goal with 3:00 to play to stun the crowd. It was officially an unassisted goal but it wasn’t an individual effort – Avery Hayes was forechecking like a demon to turn up the pressure and Joona Koppanen’s wall play helped encourage the Marlie to make a poor decision of a pass back into the middle of the ice. McGroarty then picked off the puck and worked his magic to beat the goalie.
The road series has won all four games of this WBS/Toronto matchup, which the Penguins will hope carries over to Game 5 in Toronto on Friday.
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Here were the Pens’ lines on the night
Murashov got punished in the first period for leaving the crease when the puck appeared to get hung up in the ice and not kick back like he thought, allowing an easy goal. Bad luck happens sometimes. He also isn’t getting any help from the officials which has been leading to some messy sequences and goals against, like Toronto’s third period power play goal. In inability for the AHL to review goalie interference is so very minor league. (Fitting perhaps).
Murashov was able to redeem himself with some quality play late, he stopped all the shots at 5v5 on the night giving up two goals to the Toronto power play and conceding the one goal shorthanded on the mistake on his part. Murashov stopped 32 of the 35 shots overall and it wasn’t like his overall game was bad by any means though it does seem like there has been a lot of chaotic play in the WBS end lately. That’s going to happen in the playoffs to a degree, it’s gonna get messy. Murashov is keeping it on the rails for now but it might be worth watching how he handles things moving forward and if he’s able to settle down and get through a normal game without any wild or controversial goals against.
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Mikhail Ilyin is known for his playmaking, he came close to scoring a nice goal before getting denied by a desperation defensive play to keep the puck out. Nice to see Ilyin making things happen in his first extended AHL stint this spring.
Ville Koivunen has been finding space and creating plays this series. It looks like he’s been coming to life more and more the longer the playoffs have been going on. This pass out of the corner to setup Gabe Klassen was a beaut.
That play was made by 32-year old Dakota Mermis. The difference in the team composition is striking, Toronto’s got a goal from 31-year old Vinni Letteri as well. A look at their lineup doesn’t show too many players who will be in the NHL next year (rookie Easton Cowan being one of the few exceptions). WBS got some input by depth players as well – Shooter Brickey scored a goal and Klassen finished that pass from Koivunen, but unlike Toronto, they have no one over 30 in their lineup and only a handful of players of 28+ year olds (Boko Imama and Sebastian Aho).
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At the end of the night, the plays by Koivunen and McGroarty as NHL prospects ended up tipping the balance in the Pens’ favor. With the best-of-seven series now essentially shrunk to become an impromptu best-of-three, the Pens will have to continue to play towards hoping the talent level from their prospects can overcome the more experienced bent that the Marlies are lining up against them.
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