In Calder Cup playoff history, when best-of-seven series have been tied at two, the winner of Game 5 has won 119 of 144 series games (82.6 percent). Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Chicago will try to reverse that trend as the two-game conference finals resume tonight with Game 6.
The Penguins host Toronto in Game 6 tonight (6:05 ET, 
), but with Friday’s 5-1 win, the Marlies are one win away from capturing the Richard F. Canning Trophy.
Bo Glucks (5-4-9), easton cowan (6-6-12) and Marshall Rifai (2-3-5) Toronto had both goals and assists in Game 5 Artur Akhtyamov (10-6, 2.23, .923) Stopped 32 of 33 shots.
After Wilkes-Barre/Scranton opened the scoring with a power-play goal, the Marlies went five scoreless. Mikhail Ilyin (2-7-9) 6:22 Entering the second quarter. The team that scored first lost four of the first five games in the series.
Landon Sim (1-1-2) Mali came back with a goal just 49 seconds after falling behind.
“He’s a breath of fresh air for us,” head coach John Gruden said the 21-year-old rookie. “He brings a lot of jam, a lot of energy, and he’s making plays and doing his job.”
Entering the third period with a one-goal lead, the Marlies pulled away at 1:16 on goals from Cowan and Cohen. Logan Shaw (7-8-15).
“Our guys understand what’s at stake,” Gruden said after Game 5. “We’ve let go a few times, but we caught up. They weren’t going to be denied tonight. They did a great job of sticking to the game plan and taking care of business.”
The Penguins look to snap a six-game losing streak at home against the Marlies. They haven’t beaten the Toronto Raptors at Mohegan Sun Arena since Jan. 22, 2022; now the Marlies Alex Nylander That night, the Pens scored in overtime.
“We knew coming here (Toronto) we needed two,” Penguins forward Tanner Howe told Kelsey Surmatz of The Hockey News. “We did it. We’re going home and we don’t want to play our last two games anywhere else.”
Quick click:
- with defenders Finn Harding, Alex Alexeyev, Sebastian Aho and captain Phil Kemp All withdraw from the lineup, Emil Pieninimi and David Breazeale The Penguins made their first appearance in the Calder Cup playoffs in Game 5.
- Toronto William Villeneuve (2-14-16) had scored in seven straight games entering Game 6, and his 16 points in the postseason were the most by a defenseman in the Calder Cup playoffs since Coachella Valley. Riker Evans In 2023, he scored 26 points in 26 games.
- After the Penguins wiped out 22 of 25 chances in the first two rounds against Hershey and Springfield, the Marlies went 5-for-13 (38.5 percent) on the power play in the series.
In the Western Conference, Colorado returns home with a 3-2 series lead and a chance to win their first Robert W. Clark Trophy (tonight at 8:05 ET, ).
The Eagles erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits on Friday to win 7-3, their biggest offensive output since a 7-4 win over Calgary in the opener in October.
Tristan Nelson (10-5-15) Colorado scored twice and leads the AHL with 10 goals in the playoffs. Matt DiMarsico (2-2-4), Tyler Macca (2-3-5) and Chase Bradley (5-4-9) scored within 2:58 of the second quarter to give the Eagles the lead for good.
Makar’s goal was Colorado’s first shorthanded goal of the postseason.
TJ Tynan (2-12-14) and TJ Hughes (4-8-12) Each contributed 2 assists in Game 5, Trent Miner (11-4, 1.64, .932) made 26 saves as the Eagles earned their fifth come-from-behind victory of the postseason.
skyler blindlove (1-2-3), Justin Robidas (6-5-11) and Bradley Nadeau (4-9-13) Scored for a Chicago team that didn’t have a regular-season scoring leader. Felix Unger Sorum Third game in a row.
Kayden Primo (8-6, 2.58, .919), making this his 14th consecutive playoff appearance and 15th consecutive postseason start, finishing the night with 20 stops on 26 shots; Amir Miftakhov (0 games, 4 saves) A relief to make his playoff debut. The Eagles’ seven goals tied the most the Wolves have allowed in a Calder Cup playoff game.
‘Everyone, physically, is going through a little bit,’ Wolves defender Ronan Seeley explain. “It’s the playoffs. It’s fun… Emotions are high. There’s more pressure, but that’s why we play.”
Quick click:
- Colorado has defeated its opponents in 13 of 14 games this postseason, including all five games in the conference finals.
- Tristan Nelson The Eagles have seven multi-point games in these playoffs.
- skyler blindlove He scored for Wolves on Friday, ending a 17-game drought. It was his first score since April 1 at Iowa State.
- defensive player Wyatt Aamot was the only one of the Eagles’ 18 skaters to not score a point in the series.
