The Eastern Conference Finals begin tonight as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins host the Toronto Marris in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series (7:05 ET, 
).
Both teams battled through five hard-fought games in the conference finals to emerge victorious, marking the Penguins’ first conference finals appearance since 2014 and the Marris’ first conference finals appearance since 2019.
Toronto scored twice with less than five minutes left in Sunday’s Game 5 in Cleveland, including easton cowanWin with 11.3 seconds left in the game – eliminate the Monsters. They traveled to Wilkes-Barre after the game and returned to practice on Tuesday.
“We won in such a way that the six-hour bus trip didn’t seem so long,” the head coach said. John Gruden said Tuesday. “Today’s training was good and crisp, our players are mentally sharp and (the first game) should be a good game.”
Toronto went 13 games through the first three rounds, becoming just the third team in AHL history to win three winner-take-all games in a single playoff game.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton swept Springfield 8-1 in Saturday’s deciding Game 5, providing a surprising end to a series that had been close and competitive throughout the first four games.
‘It’s an offense by committee,’ Penguins head coach Kirk McDonald said after Saturday’s win, a game in which all 12 forwards scored at least one point. “We want everyone to be able to contribute. As a five-man group, we want the offense to run in such a way that we have different guys every night.”
Tristan Broz (3-6-9) had two goals and two assists in Game 5, koivuning town (3-4-7) added two goals and an assist, and Rafael Harvey Pinard (2-1-3) After missing the previous five games, he returned to the Penguins lineup and scored twice.
“We played our part from start to finish,” McDonald said. “When they’re willing to put their mind to it, they get these results.”
“They’re a dangerous team,” Gruden said of the Penguins. “We have to make sure we control the puck and don’t impact their transition.”
Vinny Lettieri (6-7-13), who scored in Toronto’s opener on Sunday and assisted on two third-period goals, currently leads the AHL playoff scoring list.
Artur Akhtyamov (7-4, 2.18, .922) made nine consecutive starts for the Marlies; Sergei Murashov (6-3, 1.74, 0.943) The Penguins made a deep playoff run but have never faced the Toronto Raptors in his career.
The two teams tied in their two regular-season meetings in 2025-26: the Marlies won 4-3 in overtime on November 5, and the Penguins won 4-3 in the regular season on March 22.
