The 2026 Calder Cup Final takes place tonight in Toronto (7 p.m. ET,
, Water Hockey 24/7, Sportsnet 360, NHL Network, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio), the Marlies went home with a 2-0 lead.
Logan Shaw (9-8-17) Toronto defeated Chicago 5-4 in a see-saw game 3:46 into overtime on Sunday afternoon in Game 2 at Allstate Arena. It was the Marlies’ eighth come-from-behind win in the postseason and their second straight game after trailing 1-0 and 2-1.
“We’ve been in this situation a few times this year,” Shaw said after Toronto led 3-2 and 4-3 in the third period. “We’ve been through just about everything you can imagine this year. We have a lot of confidence in our team.”
Shaw—the only Marlie to play in all 93 regular season and playoff games this year—and Bo Glucks (7-6-13) scored two points each in Game 2, and Vinny Lettieri (10-13-23) and William Villeneuve (2-17-19) each dished out 3 assists. Lettieri had two goals and four assists in the first two games of the series.
The field goal score in Sunday’s game was 32-32. This was his 17th consecutive start in net for Toronto. Artur Akhtyamov (13-6, 2.21, .924) stopped 28 shots.
Kayden Primo (8-7, 2.74, .914) started the season with the Toronto Maple Leafs after claiming waivers on Oct. 6, returning to the Chicago cage after missing the first three games and making 27 saves.
Wolves defender Yusso Valimaki (5-8-13) tied the game twice in the third quarter, tied the game at 3-3 with 11:27 left, and forced overtime with 16.7 seconds left. It was the latest tying goal in a Calder Cup final since 2002, when Chicago Steve Maltheis The score came with 2.7 seconds left to send Game 1 against Bridgeport into overtime.
“We’re two games behind, but we believe in our process,” said Välimäki, a veteran of 271 NHL games. “Honestly, we’re better on the road than we are at home. We really don’t need to look at this series as one game at a time and go from there.”
Charles Alexis Legault (1-3-4) Scored the first goal of the playoffs Noah Philp (6-6-12) had a goal and an assist for the Wolves.
This is the second consecutive series for Mali that has won two games in a row on the road to take a 2-0 lead. Their six-game road winning streak set a franchise playoff record; the game-winning goals in five of the six wins came either in overtime or in the final two minutes of regulation.
“We’re playing a good hockey team,” Marris head coach John Gruden explain. “They didn’t come here by accident. They’re not going to give up; I don’t expect them to give up either. (But) it’s a great opportunity for us to go home and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Quick click:
- Four teams in history have won the Calder Cup after trailing 2-0 in the finals: the Hershey Bears in 2023 and 2010, the Springfield Indians in 1991 and the Nova Scotia Voyager in 1972. Only the 2010 Bears made a comeback after losing their first two games at home.
- In the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs, road teams are 13-4 in overtime.
- Alex Nylander (6-0-6) Scored the second penalty kick in Game 2; the Marlies’ shooter is 4-for-6 from the line in postseason shooting.
- Chicago went 1-for-7 on the power play in the series. Toronto is 5-0.
- Toronto has scored at least once in all seven possessions of this series, including overtime.
- The Marlies have a home record of 5 wins and 4 losses in this playoffs. The Wolves are 6-2 on the road, including wins in Games 6 and 7 of the conference finals in Colorado.
- Both teams wore the same 18 skaters for the second game as they did for the first game.
