AHL Morning Skate: June 5, 2026

Both conference finals series resume with pivotal Game 5’s tonight. In Calder Cup Playoff history, when a best-of-seven series has been tied at two games apiece, the Game 5 winner has gone on to take the series 119 of 144 times (82.6 percent).

The Eastern Conference Finals are even heading into tonight’s Game 5 at Coca-Cola Coliseum (7 ET, ) after Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pulled out a 4-3 victory on Wednesday.

Rutger McGroarty (4-5-9) capitalized on an Easton Cowan turnover with 2:59 left in regulation to break a 3-3 tie and send the Penguins to their second straight win.

“It starts with me. I’ve got to be better,” said Cowan, who returned to the Toronto lineup Wednesday after missing the previous two games.

“He’s going to go back out there and be Easton Cowan, the best version of him. Find it, fix it and forget it,” Marlies head coach John Gruden said. “He’s going to be a pro for many years. He’s a gamer. I’m sure he’d like to have it back, but that’s not going to define who he is as a person and it’s not going to define who he is as a Toronto Maple Leaf.”

Toronto opened an early 2-0 lead on a shorthanded goal by Bo Groulx (4-3-7) off a misplay by Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov (8-5, 2.01, .934), followed by a power-play goal by Vinni Lettieri (8-8-16).

The Penguins responded in the second period with Scooter Brickey (1-2-3) scoring his first career AHL goal, fellow defenseman Chase Pietila (1-1-2) notching his first of the playoffs after scoring twice in 66 regular-season games, and Gabe Klassen (2-5-7) giving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton its first lead of the night with 51 seconds left in the stanza.

“Obviously, our first period wasn’t good,” Penguins forward Avery Hayes (3-3-6) told Josh Yohe of The Athletic. “But I think you just saw the character of the people we have on this team. We finally started playing well. And when we play our best hockey, I don’t think too many people can play with us.”

The Marlies got their third special-teams goal of the night when Luke Haymes (3-7-10) tied things up at 3-3 on a power play with 6:56 remaining in regulation. Toronto is 4-for-10 on the power play in the series, and 9-for-10 on the penalty kill.

“They’re a good hockey team,” Gruden said of the Penguins. “That’s a tough division on that other side – for them to come out of there, they’re doing something right. It’s a good series. It’s a tough way to lose but it’s hockey. We can’t hang our heads.”

Quick Hits:

The road team has won 11 consecutive meetings between the Penguins and Marlies. The last home victory by either team was a 5-2 decision by the Marlies on Dec. 20, 2022.
Toronto’s Artur Akhtyamov (9-6, 2.31, .920) has allowed four goals in back-to-back games. He had given up three goals or fewer in each of his first 13 playoff starts.
Jacob Quillan (1-6-7) did not play for the Marlies in Game 4.
Scooter Brickey has three points in three games for the Penguins since making his postseason debut in Game 2 in place of Alex Alexeyev.

In the Western Conference, Chicago’s 2-1 win on Wednesday evened the series heading into tonight’s Game 5 at Allstate Arena (8 ET, ).

The Wolves’ dynamic pair of Justin Robidas (5-5-10) and Bradly Nadeau (3-9-12) provided the scoring in Game 4, and Cayden Primeau (8-5, 2.30, .928) made 17 of his 33 saves in the third period to hold off the Eagles.

“They were on us a little bit early, but we weathered the storm and we took it to them,” said Primeau. “When we play like that, we’re a hard team to beat.”

The goal by Robidas 10:52 into the second period broke a scoreless deadlock. It was also Chicago’s second shorthanded tally in as many nights.

After Nadeau extended the lead to 2-0 early in the third, Alex Barré-Boulet (5-6-11) got Colorado on the board with 8:39 to play, scoring his second goal of the series against his former Laval Rocket teammate Primeau.

Shots on goal in the series are 140-93 in favor of Colorado, including 51-24 in the first period of the four games.

“This is a team that really believes in themselves and the way that they can play,” Wolves head coach Spiros Anastas said. “If they bring it and start on time, I have full faith in this team because they have faith in themselves.”

Quick Hits:

Chicago was without its regular-season scoring leader Felix Unger Sörum for a second straight night on Wednesday.
Bradly Nadeau and Justin Robidas lead the Wolves with four points apiece in the series. Tristen Nielsen, T.J. Hughes and T.J. Tynan all have four points for the Eagles.
Trent Miner (10-4, 1.55, .935) turned aside 27 shots for the Eagles in Game 4, allowing two goals or fewer for the 11th time in his 14 playoff starts.
Miner is 3-0 with a .953 save percentage (3 GA on 64 shots) following a loss this postseason.

A2-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. N4-Toronto Marlies
Game 5 – Tonight, 7:00 ET,
(Series tied, 2-2)

Game 1 – Toronto 4, W-B/SCRANTON 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – Toronto 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (OT) | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – W-B/Scranton 5, TORONTO 3 | Recap | Highlights
Game 4 – W-B/Scranton 4, TORONTO 3 | Recap | Highlights
Game 5 – Fri., June 5 – W-B/Scranton at Toronto, 7:00
Game 6 – Sun., June 7 – Toronto at W-B/Scranton, 6:05
*Game 7 – Tue., June 9 – Toronto at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern