Easton Cowan scores late series-winning goal as Marlies oust Monsters

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Easton Cowan, playoff hero.

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While Leafs Nation hopes that applies one day with the Maple Leafs, the fan base, for now, will have to settle for the next best thing.

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It’s still a pretty good option, as a late goal by Cowan on Sunday afternoon in Game 5 of the North Division final has sent the Marlies to the Eastern Conference final in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Cowan scored with 12 seconds remaining in the third period at Rocket Arena, giving the Marlies a 3-2 win in the deciding game of the best-of-five series against the Cleveland Monsters.

“How can you not be excited about what just happened?” Marlies coach John Gruden said to media in Cleveland. “I do believe it started from the first five minutes. We came out with the right mindset. We did a lot of good things.

“It’s such a credit to our guys. The way they handled themselves on the bench and the way they handle themselves when our backs are against the wall. I said it to them between periods, we bet on you guys with our backs against the wall and they perform.”

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Toronto, which won Game 4 at home on Friday to force a Game 5, will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the best-of-seven conference final. It’s the first time the Marlies have advanced to the conference final in the American Hockey League playoffs since 2019, when they lost to Charlotte in six games.

Familiar face

A juicy subplot, of course, is that former Leafs forward and executive Jason Spezza is the Penguins’ general manager. And we’re sure you’re aware that Spezza’s boss with the Pittsburgh Penguins is Kyle Dubas.

The Marlies are the third team in AHL history to win three winner-take-all games in one post-season, joining the 2023 Coachella Valley Firebirds and the 2002 Chicago Wolves.

Parked to the left of Monsters goalie Zach Sawchenko, Cowan scored his fourth goal of the playoffs off a pass — or what might have been a fanned shot — from Vinni Lettieri.

Marlies captain Logan Shaw tied the game at 15:30 of the third period, blasting a one-timer past Sawchenko. Lettieri, who scored in the first period to tie the game 1-1, assisted on that goal as well and was named the first star.

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“We just play the right way the whole way through and we bend sometimes and we got away from our structure, but we always believed in each other and right now we’re just playing for each other and for the guy next to us,” Shaw told media in Cleveland. “We have a lot of positivity and a lot of guys in that room who are willing to do everything to win. It took us 59 minutes and 50 seconds to get that one done, but it felt good.”

Old hat for Cowan

As for Cowan, the ability to come through when the intensity is cranked up in the playoffs is nothing new. He made a habit of doing it with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League and capped his junior career when he was named the most valuable player of the 2025 Memorial Cup.

Cowan followed that with 29 points in 66 games in his rookie season with the Leafs.

Former Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese and Hudson Fasching scored for the Monsters.

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Artur Akhtyamov made 22 saves in the Marlies net. Sawchenko made 21 saves for the Monsters.

The conference final will mark the first playoff meeting between Toronto and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The clubs met twice in the 2025-26 regular season, with each winning once by one goal.

The schedule for the Eastern Conference final:

Game 1 — at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.
Game 2 — at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Friday, 7:05 p.m.
Game 3 — at Toronto, June 1, 7 p.m.
Game 4 — at Toronto, June 3, 7 p.m.
Game 5 — at Toronto, June 5, 7 p.m.*
Game 6 — at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, June 7, 6:05 p.m.*
Game 7 — at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, June 9, 7:05 p.m.*
(* — if necessary)

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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