Wolves get swept away by Marlies

TORONTO, Ont. - The Chicago Wolves' quest for the 2014 Calder Cup came to a close Friday night at Ricoh Coliseum as the Toronto Marlies earned a 4-0 victory to sweep the Western Conference semifinal series.

Forwards Greg McKegg, Carter Ashton and Peter Holland and defenseman Korbinian Holzer scored for the Marlies, who handed the Wolves their first postseason sweep since the 2005 Calder Cup Finals. The Wolves outshot the Marlies for the fourth game in a row, but couldn't translate that advantage into goals and an extension of the franchise's 20th season.

"We didn't have the lead once in the whole series," said Wolves coach John Anderson. "That's it in a nutshell. We looked nervous at the start again tonight. We had that feeling in the very first game and this game too. They just took advantage of our mistakes."

The Marlies opened the scoring for the fourth straight game on McKegg's goal at 7:51 of the first period. After a Wolves flurry at the other end was rebuffed by goaltender Drew MacIntyre, the Marlies triggered a rush the other way. McKegg carried the puck into the Wolves zone and snapped a shot past goaltender Jake Allen.

Allen made 25 saves in the loss.

The Marlies increased their lead to 2-0 at 2:46 of the second period when Ashton took aim from the outside of the right circle and ripped a slap shot over Allen's glove.

The Marlies' advantage became 3-0 at 7:09 of the third period on Holland's breakaway goal. A Wolves defenseman pinched in front of the team's bench in an attempt to keep the puck in the neutral zone, but Sam Carrick claimed possession and found Holland rushing across the blue line for the goal.

Anderson pulled Allen with nearly four minutes to go to get an extra skater, but Holzer added an empty-net goal with 4.7 seconds remaining.