Toronto Marlies remain perfect, move on to conference final

The Toronto Marlies completed the sweep of the Cleveland Monsters with a 6-2 victory on Tuesday night as the Toronto Maple Leafs farm team continues to dominate.

For the sixth time in franchise history, the Toronto Marlies are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Toronto Maple Leafs farm team beat the Cleveland Monsters 6-2 on Tuesday night to sweep the second round series and remain perfect in the postseason.

It wasn’t an ideal start for them, however, as Cleveland carried a 2-0 lead into the first intermission off goals from Trey Fix-Wolansky and Zac Dalpe.

The second frame – and the rest of the game, for that matter – would belong to Toronto. Mason Marchment would pot a pair of goals in the first four minutes of play. Trevor Moore would follow that up with two markers of his own

Michael Carcone would help the cause by extending the lead to three less than five minutes into the final period. That would essentially be the dagger, as the Marlies would allow just 10 shots in the period and 25 total.

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In a final attempt to stay alive with their backs against the wall, the Monsters pulled goaltender Brad Thiessen while they were on the power play with just over eight minutes to play. They weren’t able to regain any ground on that man advantage.

Carcone would add an empty netter to officially seal the deal.

Now, the Marlies will have to play the waiting game to see who their next opponent will be – although, it’s looking like they’ll know very soon.

They’ll meet either the Charlotte Checkers or the Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference Final. The Checkers also won on Tuesday and now hold a 3-0 series lead. They have a chance to close it out on Wednesday night.

The Marlies will start the series playing the first two games on the road before hosting Game 3, 4, and 5, which will take place on May 21, 23, and 24, according to The Athletic’s Hailey Salvian.

Toronto has been backstopped by Kasimir Kaskisuo, who’s been stellar. He’s posted a blemish-free record with a 1.56 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage with one shutout in the postseason. Additionally, Jeremy Bracco, Chris Mueller, Rasmus Sandin, and Dmytro Timashov are also averaging at least a point per game so far in the playoffs.

Sandin has seven assists in his first taste of professional playoff hockey. The 2018 first-rounder just turned 19 years old a month ago.

Bracco has continued his dominant play from the regular season. The second-year pro has 12 points – 10 of those being assists – in the seven contests. He was toying with the Cleveland defence on the fifth goal, exhibiting elite edge work before sliding the puck across the crease for Carcone.

Moore, who was loaned back to the Marlies after the Maple Leafs were bounced from the playoffs, put up six points in his first series back with the team.

The Marlies have provided relief to fans following the end of the Leafs’ season for years, and coming off the heels of arguably the most crushing playoff exit in recent memory for the big-league squad, the farm team has answered with their most dominant stretch of play in franchise history.