Easton Cowan scores late in Game 5, Marlies advance to AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals

The Toronto Marlies are moving on to the American Hockey League’s Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Cleveland Monsters 3-2 in Game 5 of the North Division Finals.

Easton Cowan scored with 12 seconds left on Sunday to give the Marlies their first lead of the afternoon. Toronto will take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

After trailing 2-1 entering the third period, Marlies captain Logan Shaw tied the game with 4:30 left to play to help set up Cowan’s heroics. Cowan recorded his fourth goal of the playoffs by jamming home a Vinni Lettieri shot that was fanned on. Jacob Quillan recorded the secondary assist on Cowan’s fourth goal of the playoffs, and the biggest goal of Cowan’s professional career to this point.

Cowan has recorded four goals and four assists over 13 playoff games with the Marlies and is putting together the type of postseason the Toronto Maple Leafs’ organization was hoping to see when it was announced Cowan would finish his rookie year in the AHL. The 21-year-old is just over a month removed from his rookie season at the NHL level, a year in which Cowan appeared in 66 games, recording 11 goals and 18 assists, and looked more comfortable as the season went on. Speaking to the media post-game, Cowan touched on what he saw during the first game-winning tally of his AHL career.

“I think we just had a really good forecheck. Vinny [Lettieri] tried to get it on net, and it just ended up going to me for a wide open net,” Cowan said. “It was pretty easy, and I was just happy to get that win.

Artur Akhtyamov once again helped the Marlies find themselves on the right side of an elimination game. The 24-year-old turned aside 22 shots, improving his record to 3-0 in games he’s started this postseason when the Marlies were facing elimination. Sunday’s win pushed Akhtyamov’s record to 7-4-0 in these playoffs to go along with a 2.18 goals-against average and 0.922 save percentage.

“As soon as I came in, I just noticed all the character and resilience,” Cowan said. “Obviously, it helps when you have the best goalie in the league. He’s been playing really well for us, so we’re just going to keep it going.”

After Monsters forward Zach Aston-Reese opened the scoring 6:31 into the first period, AHL veteran Lettieri struck back just over six minutes later. Marlies defenceman William Villeneuve picked up his playoff-leading 10th assist and raised his point total to 11 through four games.

After being selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Villeneuve grinded through almost four full AHL seasons before receiving the call to the Maple Leafs. The 24-year-old appeared in three games at the NHL level after debuting on April 11 against the Florida Panthers. After going pointless over three games to close out the year, Villeneuve returned to the Marlies, where he has used this playoff run to put his name in consideration to be one of the Maple Leafs’ seven defencemen to open next season.

Hudson Fasching gave the Monsters a 2-1 lead with 4:57 remaining in the second period, an advantage that would be held until Shaw and Cowan’s late-game heroics. The Marlies have now won three winner-take-all games during these playoffs and have become the third AHL team in history to reach that mark in a single postseason.

The Marlies will open the Eastern Conference Finals on the road, with Game 1 on Wednesday, May 27, at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza. Puck drop is set for 7:05 p.m. EST.

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