Tip of the Tower
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Toronto Marlies Face Toughest Test of the Season

By David Morassutti

Mar 24, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Milan Michalek (18) and forward Connor Brown (16) congratulate forward Nazem Kadri (43) on his goal as Anaheim Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler (4) looks on during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Milan Michalek (18) and forward Connor Brown (16) congratulate forward Nazem Kadri (43) on his goal as Anaheim Ducks defenceman Cam Fowler (4) looks on during the first period at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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In a season where the Toronto Marlies were dominant from start to finish, they now face their biggest test against the Albany Devils who look to take a 2-0 series lead.

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The Toronto Marlies had their best regular season ever in franchise history and it brought upon the expectation that they would be a lock to win the Calder Cup. They swept the Bridgeport Sound Tigers in round one after coming back from a 4-1 deficit in game three to move on to round two.

In their first game of round two the Marlies got a quick wake up call against the Albany Devils who shut down the highly skilled Marlies offence in a 2-1 victory. Granted the Marlies were missing top player William Nylander who missed the game due to an illness, Nikita Soshnikov and captain Andrew Campbell. However, the Marlies have shown over the course of the season that they are the deepest team in the AHL especially when Nylander missed significant time due to a concussion. The Marlies are not sure whether those players will be ready for Game 2 but that should not be the concern right now for this team.

Mar 19, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick (8) gets congratulated by forward P.A. Parenteau (15) and forward William Nylander (39) after scoring the winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Connor Carrick (8) gets congratulated by forward P.A. Parenteau (15) and forward William Nylander (39) after scoring the winning goal against the Buffalo Sabres at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Buffalo 4-1. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

What has hurt the Marlies at times this season has been crucial mistakes like taking bad penalties and costly turnovers. Luckily the Marlies offence was able to overcome those mistakes, but in a playoff series against the second best team in the AHL the team needs to minimize those mistakes, especially against a strong defensive team.

Albany only allowed 168 goals against this season while the Marlies allowed 191 goals against. Albany is comfortable winning low scoring games so the Marlies will need to find a way to capitalize on missed opportunities.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game that he is not too worried about the Marlies chances in this series but says that the team needs to figure things out offensively.

“They make it hard on you, but that said I thought we had more than enough opportunities to score more than one goal but we failed to capitalize,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe.

If the Marlies struggle the same way they did in Game 1, it will be up to their goaltending to steady the ship moving forward. There is a lot of pressure for Garret Sparks and Antoine Bibeau to prove to the Toronto Maple Leafs what they can do in high pressure situations. While goaltending has not been a problem for the Marlies they cannot afford for them to be off their game.

Mar 3, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left win Brendan Leipsic (49) is checked by Minnesota Wild defenceman Marco Scandella (6) during the second period at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2016; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs left win Brendan Leipsic (49) is checked by Minnesota Wild defenceman Marco Scandella (6) during the second period at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Connor Carrick, has been a great addition for the Marlies since being acquired in the Daniel Winnik trade from Washington, scoring the only goal in Game 1 and continuing his strong play in the playoffs. Brendan Leipsic had a strong and hopefully he can find a way to get some points on the board especially if Nylander continues to miss time.

The Marlies will look to tie the series before they go on the road to Albany for games three, four and five.  Game 2 will be on Friday at 7:30 pm on RogersTV.

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