Four goals in the final five minutes of last night’s Game 2 gave Colorado a 5-2 victory over Chicago, but the Eagles know how close they were to falling into a 0-2 series hole heading on the road.
“We haven’t gotten to this point because were a lucky team,” Colorado head coach Mark Letestu said. “It’s because were a good team. The guys believed in the fact that they’re a good team.”
With the Wolves nursing a 2-1 lead, Colorado tied the score at 15:00 of the third period when Jacob MacDonald (1-1-2) netted his first goal of the playoffs.
Chicago’s Nikita Pavlychev then took a high-sticking penalty off the ensuing center-ice faceoff, and T.J. Hughes (4-5-9) scored with 4:08 to play to give Colorado the lead at 3-2. Jason Polin (1-5-6) and Ivan Ivan (2-9-11) scored empty-net goals to finish the scoring.
The Wolves went more than 26 minutes without a shot on net; their only shot of the entire third period was an attempt by Ronan Seeley with 52.5 seconds left.
“It’s not just the last five minutes,” a candid Wolves head coach Spiros Anastas said after the loss. “I think the whole game was very uncharacteristic of us. We took some very undisciplined penalties. It might be one of the most disappointing losses of the season mainly because of the fashion we lost in.”
He continued, “It wasn’t the team that we are in the third period. We were more playing not to lose. When you have a one-goal lead you should continue to pressure and make sure you’re playing in their zone rather than ours, and we didn’t do that.”
The next three games of the series are at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Ill., beginning with Game 3 on Tuesday (8 ET, 
).
“We got the split on the road, and now it’s a three-out-of-five with us playing more games at home,” Anastas said. “We can take that positive.”
The Eastern Conference Finals resume on Monday in Toronto (7 ET, ) after the Marlies won both games in Wilkes-Barre to start the series.
Friday’s 2-1 overtime loss in Game 2 left the Penguins with a task that only eight AHL teams previously have successfully pulled off – winning a best-of-seven series after losing the first two games at home.
Two of those eight teams were Wilkes-Barre/Scranton clubs; the Penguins came back to defeat Bridgeport in 2006 and Norfolk in 2011.
Michael Pezzetta (3-1-4) floated a shot from the point that bounced in off Sergei Murashov’s blocker with 14:53 gone in OT to give Toronto the Game 2 win. Pezzetta also scored the decisive goal in Game 1, breaking a 2-2 tie with 1:36 left in regulation.
“You look at playoffs with any team that continues to have success,” Marlies head coach John Gruden said. “The top lines neutralize themselves and it’s always someone stepping up on the third or fourth line… We’ve got four lines that can all play the game, and we use all of them.”
“He plays a really physical game,” linemate Marc Johnstone said of Pezzetta, who has played 209 games in the NHL over the last five seasons. “It’s created some time and space for me and Reese (Johnson). It’s a fun line to play with. We feed off each other, and both of those guys have been unbelievable.”