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TORONTO -- The Toronto Marlies have enjoyed plenty of success so far in the 2014 American Hockey League playoffs, sweeping their first two series to secure a spot in the Western Conference Final. But despite their perfect 7-0 post-season record, the Marlies wont be taking their next opponent, the Texas Stars, lightly. "We know were not going to win every game," said centre Peter Holland. "If we are going to make it to the Calder Cup (final) and were going to make a push like that, we know were not going to sweep the whole way through. Thats just not realistic." Texas (48-18-10) is the reigning Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winner with the leagues best regular season record. The Stars roster also boasts the leagues MVP in Travis Morin and Rookie of the Year in Curtis McKenzie. Morin leads the Stars in playoff scoring with two goals and eight assists in nine games, followed closely by Mike Heddens five goals and four assists. The series begins Friday in Cedar Park, Tex. The Stars, like the Marlies (45-25-6), swept their first round matchup against the Oklahoma City Barons and then used six games to dispatch the defending Calder Cup champion Grand Rapids Griffins. Marlies head coach Steve Spott was in Texas Sunday to see the Stars down the Griffins 7-1 in the series clincher. "Theyre the No. 1 team in the league, were an underdog, lets not kid ourselves, were an underdog," Spott said. "I sound like Bruce (Boudreau) right now in Anaheim, but we definitely are, were underdogs, we understand that, but weve been underdogs since Sept. 1 in this league." Spott, who was the head coach of the Kitchener Rangers from 2008-13 before joining the Marlies, has coached or coached against as many as six members of the Stars organization including forwards Radek Faksa and Hedden, both of whom played for the Rangers. "Theyve got depth, theyre well coached and its going to be a heck of a series," said Spott. "I think these are two premiere clubs in the league the way theyre playing right now and its going to be a tough series. I think weve been searching for adversity. I think were going to find it and its going to test our identity." The Marlies were 2-2-0 against the Stars this season losing both meetings at Cedar Park Center. Toronto was out-scored 11-2 in the losses. Spencer Abbott and Josh Leivo each had three points during the season series while Marlies leading playoff scorer Jerry DAmigo had two goals and Greg McKegg added three assists. Drew MacIntyre, who has a 1.56 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage in the post-season, appeared in all four regular season meetings, posting a 3.00 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. An area of concern against Texas could be Torontos power play, which went 1-for-14 during the season series. In the playoffs, though, the Marlies have the top-ranked power play among teams currently playing at 25 per cent efficiency. "Weve really got to make sure our special teams are on top of it cause they can win or lose you games at this time of the year," said Holland. "Weve got to make sure our power play is scoring goals for us and our penalty kill is stopping them." Holland, who has four goals and six points in four games after missing the first three playoff games to recover from injury, didnt play in the regular season series. Spott says Holland is a key ingredient to the power play. "When you drop in Holland and you drop in Abbott, your power play becomes a lot better," said Spott. "What we do is overrated sometimes. We can put in the plan, but theyve got to execute it. "When theres something not there, Peter Holland can create something so I think thats what makes the difference. " Game 2 of the series goes Monday in Texas before moving to Toronto for Games 3-5 beginning May 28 at Ricoh Coliseum. Notes: Defenceman Andrew MacWilliam (upper body), who was injured in Game 3 of the Chicago series, will be a game-time decision for Game 1. Spott said forward Tyler Biggs has been battling a stomach virus, which caused him to lose 11 pounds in a 24-hour period this week. . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. The latest from Bob As tweeted by TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie on Monday, the Columbus Blue Jackets need to resolve their offseason plans with forward R. . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. . Chelsea ripped apart Hull inside 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge, with the early goals from Oscar and Frank Lampard securing a 2-0 victory. While Lampard had earlier missed a penalty, Roberto Soldado had no such trouble from the spot for Tottenham, scoring on his debut to clinch a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace. ., climbed from seventh to fifth spot in womens competition Sunday at the ISU world junior figure skating championships. . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league.Stillwater, OK (SportsNetwork.com) - The 17th-ranked Maryland Terrapins play their first true road game of the season when they invade Gallagher-Iba Arena on Sunday afternoon for a showdown with the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Mark Turgeons Terrapins have just one loss on the season and that came a couple of weeks ago in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. On the other side of things, Maryland, in its first season in the Big Ten, fell to top-10 foe Virginia 76-65 in College Park. Maryland has righted the ship however, with wins in each of its last three outings, including a 67-57 win over USC Upstate last weekend to close out a six-game homestand. Travis Fords Cowboys are getting closer and closer to the Top-25 as they are also sporting just one loss on the year. The team opened the season with seven straight wins, but fell 75-49 at South Carolina as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Dec. 6. The team has won each of its last two outings however, moving to 9-1 on the year with last weeks 68-44 rout of Middle Tennessee. These two teams have met just one time prior and that came all the way back in 1966. Maryland edged out Oklahoma State 50-49 in the Memphis Invitational that year. The Terrapins have found success at both ends of the floor this season. The team is averaging 75.3 ppg on .476 shooting, while limiting the opposition to just 61.4 ppg and well under 40 percent efficiency (.370). The strong defense has carried beyond the arc, as foes are converting just 28.9 percent of the time from long range. Most teams would struggle with their top playmaker sidelined, but Dez Wells absence (wrist) from the lineup hasnt hurt the team yet.dddddddddddd While the team could certainly use his 16.2 ppg, others have stepped up and filled the void. Freshman Melo Trimble is definitely one of those guys, as the youngster is second on the team with a solid 15.8 ppg. Jake Layman is the other, as the junior pours in 15.4 ppg. Maryland shot a modest .400 from the floor against USC Upstate, but held the visitors to just a .373 effort in the 10-point win. The Terrapins did dominate on the boards (44-31) and outscored USC Upstate 17-8 from the free-throw line. Layman led the way with 17 points, Trimble recorded his first double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, while Evan Smotrycz finished with 19 points in just 18 minutes of work. Oklahoma State is another team with great balanced play at both ends of the floor. The Cowboys are yielding just 56.6 ppg this year, holding opponents to just .352 shooting (among the nations top-15 teams). Offensively, the team is driven by the dynamic scoring duo of senior forward LeBryan Nash and junior guard Phil Forte III. Nash leads the team with 17.7 ppg, with Forte hot on his trail at 17.1 ppg. The Cowboys jumped all over the Blue Raiders early, holding Middle Tennessee to a mere .304 shooting performance in the first half and taking a 40-21 advantage into halftime. OSU, which shot a sizzling 64 percent from the floor in the first stanza, cooled off considerably over the final 20 minutes (.364), but the visitors were unable to make any headway. Nash led four Cowboys in double figures with 16 points. Forte and Michael Cobbins finished with 12 points each, while Jeff Newberry came off the bench to tally 11. ' ' '
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