T.J. Brennan and Zach Hyman each scored twice as the Toronto Marlies evened the North Division Finals with a 5-3 win over the Albany Devils at a sold-out Ricoh Coliseum on Friday night.
With the best-of-seven series tied at one win apiece, the teams head to Albany for Game 3 on Sunday (5 p.m. ET, AHL Live).
Antoine Bibeau (2-0) made 40 saves – including 18 in the third period – and Connor Carrick and Sam Carrick each tallied two assists as the Marlies bounced back from Wednesday’s 2-1 loss in the series opener.
Toronto scored first in Game 2 at the tail end of a power play as Ben Smith banged home the rebound of a Connor Carrick shot for his second goal of the postseason at 11:20 of the first period.
The Devils answered quickly when Dan Kelly’s long shot eluded Bibeau at 12:38, and Albany grabbed a 2-1 lead less than three minutes later as Nick Lappin pounced on a rebound at 15:26.
Toronto killed off 1:26 of an Albany two-man advantage in the second period then capitalized on a power play of its own, as Brennan sent a quick wrister through traffic to make it 2-2 at 10:36.
The Marlies regained the lead at 2:02 of the third period when Hyman got a piece of a point shot by Viktor Loov for his second goal of the playoffs. But the Devils came right back again as Matt Lorito swept a loose puck past Bibeau at 3:52, making it 3-3.
Brennan then got his second goal of the night at 6:43, beating Scott Wedgewood (4-2) on a snap shot from the right point, and Hyman picked up his second goal with 1:45 remaining, stuffing a wraparound home to put the Marlies up 5-3.
Toronto was 1-for-5 on the power play in Game 2; Albany was 0-for-3.
North Division Finals – Series “J” (best-of-7)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N2-Albany Devils
Game 1 – Wed., May 4 – Albany 2, TORONTO 1
Game 2 – Fri., May 6 – TORONTO 5, Albany 3
Game 3 – Sun., May 8 – Toronto at Albany, 5:00
Game 4 – Tue., May 10 – Toronto at Albany, 7:00
Game 5 – Thu., May 12 – Toronto at Albany, 7:00
*Game 6 – Sat., May 14 – Albany at Toronto, 3:00
*Game 7 – Mon., May 16 – Albany at Toronto, 7:30
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Hyman’s 2nd of the night=insurance goal. The @TorontoMarlies even the series with a 5-3 win over the @AlbanyDevils pic.twitter.com/fJoJpHjtBV
— AHL (@TheAHL) May 7, 2016
