The Toronto Marlies beat the Utica Comets 5-2 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 series lead in the best-of-five round-two matchup.
Marlies fans got to see the return of Erik Kallgren in goal. Kallgren had been with the Toronto Maple Leafs as their third goaltender. With Matt Murray returning to full practice and rejoining the Maple Leafs, Kallgren got sent back down to the AHL.
With Kallgren and Joseph Woll up with the Maple Leafs, the Marlies were using their third goaltender Keith Petruzzelli. He helped them win game one 6-5 but suffered a 7-2 loss in game two. For Kallgren, the return to the Marlies means actual playing time. He stopped 24 of the 26 shots he faced in game three for his first win in this year’s 2023 Calder Cup playoffs.
Kallgren and the Marlies will be looking to win the series in game four on Friday, May 5th, in Utica, New York. If they fail to do so, game five will be in Toronto on Sunday, May 7th. The winner of this series will play the winner of the Syracuse Crunch vs. Rochester Americans series. That series is tied 2-2 with game five scheduled for Saturday, May 6th.
Game three highlights
Toronto Marlies forward Ryan Chyzowski opened the scoring with his first goal of the playoffs at 4:57 of the first period. The Marlies then took a 2-0 lead in the second period with a penalty shot goal from Kyle Clifford at 5:01. The lead would be cut in half at 5:33 with a Comets goal from Aarne Talvitie. Comets defenseman Simon Nemec would then score his first of the playoffs at 17:52 to tie the game. Toronto’s Chyzowski (4:34), Pontus Holmberg (16:12), and Logan Shaw (18:40) scored in the third period to give the Marlies a 5-2 win. Shaw’s goal was a short-handed empty netter to seal the victory.
