Toronto Marlies/Maple Leafs goaltender Artur Akhtyamov (70) who was awarded Player of the Game Award for his 32 saves off 34 shots. (Source: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)The Toronto Marlies beat the Cleveland Monsters 5-2 in Game One of the North Finals to go up 1-0 on the road to the 2026 Calder Cup Finals.
In a very one-sided first period where Cleveland got 4:58 minutes of power play time, the Monsters outshot the Marlies 12-5. Half of Cleveland's first frame shots (6) came in those man-advantage situations including the one that led to the opening goal when forward Hudson Fasching jammed the puck past Toronto goalie and AHL All-Star Artur Akhtyamov.
Cleveland would take charge early in the second period, going on a 5-1 shooting run. The fifth shot would come after forcing a turnover in the Marlies zone with forward Hunter McKown sniping the puck from the slot past Akhtyamov for the 2-0 lead at the 7:37 mark.
After going 0-for-3 in power plays earlier in the game and being outshot 23-8 by Cleveland in the second frame, the Marlies would find themselves on their fourth man-advantage of the game. Forward Easton Cowan would capitalize and sneak the puck between the five-hole six seconds into the power play to cut the deficit by half. Just over two minutes later with six seconds left in the second, defenceman Marshall Rifai would nail a one-timer from the slot to tie the game at two apiece.
Going into the final period, Toronto trailed Cleveland 23-11 in shots on goal. The Marlies put up the first three shots in the third frame with final being a blazer from the left point by forward Alex Nylander for the game-winning goal. Cleveland would put up six straight shots for the next 10:15 minutes, but then forward Ryan Tverberg would tap the puck into the Cleveland net off a quick pass from the opposite side from Logan Shaw to put the Marlies up 4-2. With an empty-netter, the game safely went as a W for Toronto.
Toronto goalie Akhtyamov made 32 saves of 34 shots for a save percentage of 0.941.
Cleveland goalie Zach Sawchenko made 11 saves off 15 shots for a save percentage of 0.733.