Toronto Marlies overcome 2-0 deficit to win Game 3

After two ugly performances on the road, the Toronto Marlies returned home and close the gap with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday night.

After an 8-5 loss in Game 2, the Toronto Marlies needed to regroup going home down 2-0 in the second round to the Syracus Crunch.

They did just that with a 5-3 win in Game 3 which included a wild finish. The Marlies did not start the game off well spotting the Crunch a 2-0 lead but unlike the first two games of the series, the Marlies were not ready to roll over quite yet. After registering a goal in each of the first two games of the series, Andreas Johnsson brought the Marlies even in the second period with two goals.

With the game tied going into the third period and the Marlies with the advantage in shots they found themselves trailing once again as the Crunch scored halfway into the period. Down a goal and in jeoprady of going down 3-0 in the series, the Marlies turned a switch and took over the game.

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With under two minutes left in the game and the Marlies net empty, Andrew Nielsen unloaded a shot from the point which was initially stropped by Mike McKenna but the rebound went right to Brendan Leipsic and he made not mistake to tie the game at three. 18 seconds later, Carl Grundstrom would give the Marlies the lead after he buried a rebound past McKenna in his second goal in only his second game with the Marlies.

Just when people thought the Marlies were done, Kasperi Kapanen picked up the puck and took off towards the net and made no mistake scoring on the backhand to secure the victory. The Marlies finished the game with three goals in 33 seconds which is impressive considering how tough it was for them to generate offence at the start of the series.

Johnsson finished the game with two goals and had a fight with Yanni Gourde in the final minute of the game. Kapanen had a goal and two assists to bring his total to four points in three games in this series and six points in five playoff games. Kasamir Kaskisuo won his third game of the playoffs after he was pulled in Game 2.

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The Marlies will have a chance to tie the series on Wednesday as they host Game 4 at 7:00 p.m. It will be interesting to see if the Marlies can continue to play their cycle game like they did in Game 3. They will have to rely on players like Kapanen, Leipsic, Grundstrom and Johnsson who have stepped up their play in this series, to continue to do so moving forward.