A-Devils Ousted From Playoffs in Triple OT Epic

An era came to an end as the Albany Devils skated into the Ricoh Coliseum for game three of their first round playoff series against the Toronto Marlies. They fell, 2-1 in three overtimes, losing the series, three games to one and putting an end to the current era of Devils AHL hockey in the New York state capital.

Travis Dermott got the scoring underway at the 8:55 mark of the first period with assists to Kerby Rychel and Justin Holl. That would be Toronto’s last goal for about the next 100 minutes.

The Devils tied things up with a goal from Carter Camper, his second of the playoffs, assists to John Quenneville and Ben Sexton. The game was tied at one and that was the end of the scoring until the 6:43 mark of the third overtime, when Holl scored from Frederik Gauthier and Brendan Leipsic. That goal won the game for the Marlies and sent Toronto into the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs.

The A-Devils had a chance to end things in the first overtime, when Toronto’s Rinat Vallev received a double minor for high sticking at the 12:52 mark. Albany would have four minutes to work with, but the Marlies killed it off, essentially sending the game into the second OT period. Overall, Albany went 0-for-3 on the power play with a single shot while Toronto was 0-for-2 with the extra man, mustering two shots on goal. The Marlies had their shot at ending things in the second OT when Ben Thomson was called for a hooking minor.

The real story of this game was the goaltenders. For the A-Devils, Mackenzie Blackwood made a whopping 58 saves on 60 shots allowed in 106:43 of ice time. He was named the game’s second star for his efforts. For Toronto, Kasimir Kaskisuo made 30 saves on 31 A-Devils shots in getting the win and was named third star of the game. Holl was named the game’s first star with his goal and assist.

So, with that, the Marlies advance deeper into the Calder Cup playoffs and the A-Devils cease to exist. They will move to Binghamton next season. Toronto will likely play the Syracuse Crunch, who defeated the St. John’s IceCaps three games to one, in the next round.

So, congratulations to the Toronto Marlies in a hard fought win and a good series. And good luck to the Devils’ American Hockey League affiliate as they begin their next chapter in a new city next season.

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