ROSEMONT, Ill. John Matuszak Raiders Jersey . -- Even as two early power-play goals helped establish a 3-0 lead Toronto Marlies coach Steve Spott said he still felt uneasy Friday. He didnt need to worry. The Marlies never trailed on the way to a 5-2 American Hockey League playoff victory over the Chicago Wolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal. "Its a little bit scary. Youre up 3-0 and two of those goals came pretty early," Spott said. "It definitely didnt feel like a 3-0 game. We knew they were going to come at us, they did." The Marlies used two power-play goals to grab an the early advantage while goaltender Drew MacIntyre turned back 37 shots. "It was a 60-minute effort," Spott said. "All four lines played very hard tonight." Centre Trevor Smith opened the scoring with his first goal of the post-season, a power-play goal on a short backhand at 10:54 of the first period. Toronto converted another power-play chance at 14:55 as centre Peter Holland slipped a backhand over the glove of Wolves goaltender Jake Allen. The teams were at even strength in the second when Greg McKegg scored his second goal of the playoffs at 5:02 with a slapshot for a 3-0 lead. "Once they got up a couple of goals they (played) a little freer, they felt good about themselves and it took us a while to get back on track," said Chicago coach John Anderson. The Wolves got on the board five minutes later as Christian Hanson dumped a short rebound shot past MacIntyre. Chicago winger Michael Davies cut the deficit to 3-2 at 17:26, beating MacIntyre on a one-on-one. Toronto restored a two-goal lead at 3:53 of the third period. Winger Carter Ashton slipped while shooting but his wide, wobbly shot was deflected off Allens stick into the net. The Marlies closed out the Wolves on Sam Carricks fourth post-season goal at 17:19. "There were a couple of mistakes that cost us goals," Spott said. "We didnt get in the shot lane when we should have and had a bad line change in the second period. But beyond those two mistakes I thought we played a pretty thorough road game." Allen finished with 30 saves for Chicago. In two regular season meetings this season, seven-of-eight combined goals by the Wolves and Marlies came on power plays. The Marlies claimed a 3-2 overtime win at Chicago on Jan. 17 while the Wolves had a 2-1 triumph eight days later in Toronto. The series resumes Saturday in suburban Chicago then shifts to Torontos Ricoh Coliseum next Wednesday for at least two games, and three if necessary. The post-season series is the first between the teams since 2008. The Wolves went 4-1 on the way to their most recent Calder Cup. Marcus Allen Youth Jersey . Messier, who had been a special assistant to Rangers general manager Glen Sather, announced Thursday in a statement that he is resigning in order to "expand the game of hockey in the New York area by developing the Kingsbridge National Ice Center. Otis Sistrunk Jersey . Then he got back at the team that released him five days before the start of last season, hitting a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning of the first game at Fenway Park since Boston won the World Series last October. https://www.raiderssportsgoods.com/Womens-Foster-Moreau-Inverted-Jersey/ . Right-hander Todd Redmond took the loss. Jose Bautista hit his second home run of the spring. Here are a handful of tidbits from around camp: Hutchison impressive The Blue Jays are being cautious when talking about their young arms but internally, excitement is building over the way Drew Hutchison is looking and performing this spring.TORONTO - Drew Hutchison was roughed up by the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. The first: Hutchison is dominant pitching on the road and has been anything but throwing at Rogers Centre. After Sundays outing in which he tossed only three innings, allowing five earned runs on six hits (two home runs) and one walk in a 5-0 Toronto loss which dropped his personal win-loss record to 4-4, the splits look like this. Hutchison at home: 5 Games Started, 1-3, 8.72 ERA, 7 HR allowed and a 1.892 walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP). Hutchison on the road: 8 Games Started, 3-1, 2.03 ERA, 3 HR allowed and a 0.973 WHIP. Both Hutchison and his manager appear to be at a loss to explain the discrepancy. "Obviously I feel the same when I take the mound every time, at home and on the road," said Hutchison. "I just havent executed well here and I havent put together good games." "Some guys are like that, its hard to put a finger on it," said manager John Gibbons. "But you cant pitch him on the road every time … He wasnt very good today. They hit him around a little bit. But hes been pretty good for us." Hutchison is coming off of Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery, which was performed in July, 2012. He rehabbed for a full year and pitched briefly at Triple-A late last season and then in the Arizona Fall League. His 75 innings this year surpass, by far, his allotment from the abbreviated 2013 campaign. The Blue Jays are taking care of the 23-year-old. Prior to his last start, a scoreless, seven-inning gem last Tuesday in Detroit, Gibbons gave him a full weeks rest after he struggled in a home start against the Tampa Bay Rays. That leads to the second trend. Hutchison pitches much better when hes had extra rest, five or more days in between starts, than when he pitches on the usual four days of rest to which starters are accustomed. Here are the numbers: Hutchison on four days rest: 6 Games Started, 3-3, 5.94 ERA, 14 walks, 21 strikeouts, 7 home runs allowed. Hutchison on five or more days rest: 7 Games Started, 1-1, 2.62 ERA, 5 walks, 34 strikeouts, 3 home runs allowed. Expect Gibbons to cherry pick spots to give Hutchison extra rest over the course of the season but its difficult to do at the moment due to a lack of off days. Toronto has two more before the All-Star Break, one on Monday, June 16 and another on Monday, June 30. The task becomes easier in August when there are five off days in the month and becomes difficult again in September, when there is only one. By that point, though, the Jays hope to be counting on Hutchison in important games down the stretch. Hutchison, arguably, has been the Blue Jays second-best starter to Mark Buehrle and its likely the club will allow the 23-year-old to work through the ups and downs of a long season. Few are the young pitchers who thrive every time they take the ball. With a long road trip coming up, Hutchisons next two starts are scheduled to be in Baltimore on Friday night and against the Yankees, in New York, on the following Thursday. Dont expect Gibbons to take the ball out of Hutchisons hands on either occasion. LINDS SPLITS Adam Lind is strictly a platoon player these days. Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer is bound and determined to change that. "Im working my butt off to change that because I think he can be just as effective, or almost as effective, off lefties as what he is off righties," said Seitzer. "What happens with lefties and its guys that Ive worked with in past years, they get pounded in by hard stuff and they get to chase stuff and the breaking stuff and secondary pitches in any count." The narrative is that Lind, a left-handed hitter, cannot hit left-handed pitching consistently. The talking point is backed up by his career statisticss and the sample size, over nine seasons, is large enough. Antonio Brown Raiders Jersey. Lind, versus right-handers: 2,263 plate appearances, .290/.347/.512, 122 home runs, 17 per cent strikeout rate. Lind, versus left-handers: 875 plate appearances, .216/.261/.337, 21 home runs, 25.8 per cent strikeout rate. Manager John Gibbons has worked accordingly this season, relegating Lind to starts against right-handers. Entering Sundays play, Lind had 20 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers for the entire season. "We have a team thats versatile and can do a bunch of different things," said Lind. "I face lefties at the end of the game. I just dont start when they start the game. I get my share of at-bats against those guys." Lind is quick to point out that he often gets the more difficult left-handed challenges. "I dont get the normal starters but Ill take the lefty specialists." Lind faced an old nemesis in Friday nights win over the Cardinals. He drew a full count walk off left-hander Randy Choate, a guy who Lind saw frequently when Choate was with division rival Tampa Bay. He fouled off some tough pitches in that plate appearance. "I played against some lefties at the beginning of the year and had some good at-bats, hit the ball hard, just didnt get a hit," said Lind. "When youre in June and you look back at May you dont remember who you faced and you dont remember what really happened. Its just a statistic now. I get it, thats just how it goes and thats how people are going to look at it over the course of a season." Seitzer, as much a psychological coach as a mechanical instructor, wants Lind to look for pitches out over the plate. He believes positive results will follow. "Thats all it boils down to is breaking that bad wound that hes put in his brain that hes got to get to pitches inside because thats where theyre going to come," said Seitzer. DICKEY ON STROMAN Marcus Stromans curveball has been on full display during his first two big league starts. Hes baffled Royals and Cardinals hitters with the pitch and hes impressed his veteran teammates. "Its his ability to spin the baseball that separates him from other guys," said Dickey. "He can really spin a ball and that takes a lot of arm speed, a lot of God-given, innate natural ability to be able to do that. You cant learn that." Stroman is scheduled to start Wednesday afternoons series finale against the Twins. Teams are developing a book on the 23-year-old, information which will only increase each time he takes the mound. Hitters will make adjustments. Itll be up to Stroman to do the same. "Thats one of the things that makes you successful and able to endure at this level," said Dickey. "Do you have an aptitude where you have the ability to make adjustments quickly? I dont see anything that would lead me to believe he doesnt have that. Hes got a lot of moxie, too. He seems pretty confident out there, which is great." In the spring, general manager Alex Anthopoulos joked that Stroman was the first pitcher hed ever seen blow a bubble in the middle of his windup. Its a common occurrence. "We were on the bench thinking, like, what is Matt Holliday thinking when hes in the middle of his leg kick and a big bubbles in his mouth," joked Dickey. "Hes probably just thinking, Throw the ball. I mean, thats just what you think but everybody has their own little thing." BLUE JAYS SIGN TWO PICKS The Blue Jays signed their fourth and eighth round draft picks from last weeks amateur draft. Right-handed hitting catcher Matt Morgan, an 18-year-old out of Thorsby High School in Alabama, put pen to paper on a contract. He was taken 114th overall. Right-hander Justin Shafer, a 21-year-old whos completed his junior year with the University of Florida Gators, is on board. He was taken 234th overall. ' ' '