The Toronto Marlies’ road to the Eastern Conference Finals hasn’t been easy, but they find themselves eight wins shy of a championship.
easton cowan The Marlies beat the Cleveland Monsters 3-2 with 11.3 seconds left in Game 5 on Sunday afternoon. Toronto joins the Chicago Wolves in 2002 and the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 2023 as the only teams in AHL history to win three winner-take-all games in the same postseason.
In the conference semifinals against Laval and the conference finals against Cleveland, the Marris trailed 2-1 in the third period of Game 5 before rallying to win the game and the series.
“The resilience of our team, our ability to bend without being broken,” head coach John Gruden said after Sunday’s win. “It’s a huge credit to our guys – the way they handled themselves when we were put in a desperate situation.”
Before Cowan scored the series-winning goal, the captain Logan Shaw With 4 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game, the game was tied at 2-2. For Shaw, who has a 13-year career, this will be his second trip to the conference finals. He was with the Anaheim Ducks when they reached the NHL Western Conference Finals in 2017.
“It was fitting that he scored the game-tying goal,” Gruden said. “This is [our] In their third year together, he has become a better all-around player and a better all-around leader. His leadership is second to none. “
“We just play for each other,” Shaw said. “We have a lot of positivity and a lot of guys in the room who are willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
The Marlies will face Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the Eastern Conference title. Game 1 is Wednesday (7 p.m. ET, 
) in Wilkes-Barre.
