Toronto Marlies/Maple Leafs goaltender Artur Akhtyamov (70) made 34 saves off 36 shots in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. (Source: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)The Toronto Marlies beat the Wilkes-Barres/Scranton Penguins 4-2 in Games One of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a dream start in the first period, outshooting Toronto more than double at 13-5. Because of the one-sided shot volume, defenceman Alex Alexyev put in a shot from the point that found the back of the Marlies' net to put the Pens up 1-0 into the first break. Toronto produced one of their shots, albeit a short-handed one, during the only man-advantage situation of the opening frame: a Penguins power play where the black-and-yellow failed to register a shot.
In the second period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton once again outshot the Marlies by twice the shots at 12-5 but with a 40% shooting percentage, Toronto converted two of their shots into goals. The Penguins outshot the Marlies 4-1 in the opening 6:56 of the middle frame, but the one Toronto shot by forward Easton Cowan from the slot tied the game at one apiece at the 1:38 mark. After failing to register a shot in their first power play of the game, the Marlies responded strongly with a go-ahead power play goal by defenceman William Villeneuve in Toronto's second man-advantage situation at the 16:56 mark to go up 2-1 after 40 minutes. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton also had their second power play in this period, but just like their first one, they couldn't register a shot and instead gave up a short-handed one.
The final period saw a similar story with the Pens outshooting the Marlies 9-1 until the 13:27 mark which included the game-tying goal by forward Rutger McGroarty. After that until the end of the game, Toronto outshot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5-2 including the game-winning goal by forward Michael Pezzetta at the 18:34 mark and an empty-netter insurance goal by captain Logan Shaw to give Marlies Game One. The Pens once again came up cold turkey with no shots in their third power play coming in this period.
Toronto goalie and AHL All-Star Artur Akhtyamov made 34 saves off 36 shots for a save percentage of 0.944.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goalie and AHL All-Star Sergei Murashov made 12 saves off 15 shots for a save percentage of 0.800