As expected, the Albany Devils were a tough nut to crack, pushing Toronto all the way to a game seven, where they forced Marlies to pull out all the stops in the final 11 minutes of play to win the series.
The Devils brand of shutdown hockey and excellent goaltending from Scott Wedgewood had Toronto in trouble from the very first minute. The Marlies responded to dropping the first game at home 2-1 by tying the series with a 5-3 victory two days back at Ricoh Coliseum.
Toronto faced some adversity, somehow dropping game three in Albany after the Devils tallied a shorthanded goal with 21 seconds remaining to tie the game before deservedly going on to win it in overtime.