Rosemont, Ill. (theahl.com)… Vinny LettieriA goal with 8:28 left in regulation gave the Toronto Marlies a 4-2 victory over the Chicago Wolves in Game 1 of the Calder Cup finals on Friday night.
Lettieri gathered a loose puck in his own zone, outran four Chicago defenders and fired a shot past the goalie and into the net. Amir Miftakhov (2-1). Toronto broke Chicago’s lead before Lettieri’s goal tied it 2-2. The Marlies have won five consecutive road games and are 8-3 on the road in the playoffs.
Lettieri also had an assist on Toronto’s first goal and an empty-netter in the final minute to lead the Calder Cup playoffs with 10 goals and 20 points in 19 games.
Chicago will play Sunday afternoon (4 p.m. ET, Sportsnet One) before the series moves to Toronto.
Toronto’s Artur Akhtyamov (12-6) made his 18th start in the postseason and led the league with 26 saves. Miftakhov scored his third consecutive goal for the Wolves and finished with 21 saves.
chicago Bradley Nadeau He scored his sixth goal of the playoffs 11 minutes and 24 seconds into the game and his fourth goal in the past five games. However, Maris rookie guard Ben DanfordHis first career goal tied the game with 2:15 left.
skyler blindlove Chicago restored the lead at 14:13 of the second quarter, completing a 2-on-1 contest. However, Toronto once again broke Chicago’s lead with Maris forward Cedric Pare In the final minute of the second period, he let up and beat Miftakhov.
Bo Glucks and Boria Wallis The Marlies each had two assists.
(Toronto leads the series, 1-0)
Game 1 – Friday, June 12 – Toronto 4, Chicago 2
Game 2 – Sunday, June 14 – Toronto vs. Chicago, 4:00
Game 3 – Tuesday, June 16 – Chicago vs. Toronto, 7:00
Game 4 – Thursday, June 18 – Chicago vs. Toronto, 7:00
*Game 5 – Friday, June 19 – Chicago vs. Toronto, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sunday, June 21 – Toronto vs. Chicago, 4:00
*Game 7 – Tuesday, June 23 – Toronto vs. Chicago, 8:00
*If necessary…all times Eastern
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
