Chris Mueller knocked home the winning goal at 17:48 of overtime to send Toronto to a 3-2 win over Utica in a hard-fought Game 1 of the teams’ North Division semifinal series at Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday.
The Marlies host Game 2 on Sunday (4 p.m. ET).
Mueller’s goal, his third career playoff OT winner, came off a scramble in front with the Marlies on a power play.
Jeremy Bracco and Justin Holl also scored for Toronto, and Dmytro Timashov notched two assists.
Zack MacEwen‘s power-play goal with 6:17 gone in the third period tied the game at 1-1, and Michael Chaput‘s goal with 35.6 seconds remaining made it 2-2 and forced overtime.
Thatcher Demko made 44 saves in his playoff debut for the Comets.
Garret Sparks stopped 32 of 34 shots for Toronto in the win.
Both teams went 1-for-7 on the power play in Game 1.
North Division Semifinals – Series “C” (best-of-5)
N1-Toronto Marlies vs. N4-Utica Comets
Game 1 – Sat., Apr. 21 – TORONTO 3, Utica 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sun., Apr. 22 – Utica at Toronto, 4:00
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 25 – Toronto at Utica, 7:00
*Game 4 – Fri., Apr. 27 – Toronto at Utica, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., Apr. 29 – Utica at Toronto, 4:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern