Toronto Marlies/Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan (53) reacts after scoring the game winning goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during overtime at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, PA. (Source: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images)The Marlies offence had their way with Laval, defeating the Rocket 6-2 in Game Three of the North Division Semifinals in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs
Toronto went into a power play five seconds into the game and captain Logan Shawn wasted no time, scoring five seconds into the man-advantage. In the sixth minute of the period, forward Easton Cowan went down the ice against two Laval defencemen and lasered a shot past Rocket goalie Kaapo Kahkonen to go up 2-0. Later on, defenceman Henry Thrun pocketed the third goal off a rebound after Jacob Quillan was initially denied by Kahkonen. And then in the 16th minute, forward Alex Nylander put in the Marlies' fourth goal with a soft touch in the edge of crease off a pass by Luke Haymes, putting Toronto up 4-0 into first intermission.
Toronto's onslaught would only be delayed until the 15th minute of the second period when forward Ryan Tverberg scored off a breakaway to put the Marlies up 5-0. Laval had the last four of the five shots in the period and cashed in with their first goal at the 15:20 mark through alternate captain Alex Belzile.
Laval outshot Toronto 4-3 for the first 7:35 of the final frame despite the Marlies getting two opportunities at the power play and going 0-for-2. Eventually, the Rocket's perseverance would pay off as they would get another goal back to cut down Toronto's lead 5-2. But Marlies forward Cedric Pare would pad the lead again with goal number six, giving this game to Toronto.
Marlies goalie and AHL All-Star Artur Akhtyamov made 26 saves of 28 shots for a save percentage of 0.929 in the win.