TORONTO, Ont. – An intense and emotional Game 5 in the Eastern Conference Final saw the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins fall 5-1 to the Toronto Marlies on Friday night at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Toronto notched five unanswered goals, including three tallies during a frenzied, penalty-filled third period. The two teams combined for 100 penalty minutes in the final frame, but the mania failed to spark a Penguins comeback.
With the win, Toronto took a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Penguins drew first blood with a power-play goal by Mikhail Ilyin at 6:22 of the second period. With a defender in his face, Ville Koivunen hung in and accepted a heavy hit after thrusting the puck to the point for Emil Pieniniemi. Pieniniemi, who was making his Calder Cup Playoff debut, then fed Ilyin who went top corner for the go-ahead goal.
However, the Marlies’ response came quickly, as Landon Sim tipped in a drive by Ben Danford a mere 50 seconds later.
Bo Groulx potted a man-advantage marker that put Toronto up, 2-1, at 14:21 of the middle frame.
Easton Cowan swiftly added to that lead three minutes into the third. One minute and 17 seconds later, Marlies captain Logan Shaw knifed in a rebound to make it 4-1.
The two clubs started piling up misconduct penalties after the midpoint of the final period, beginning with Avery Hayes scrumming with Sim. Six more two-and-ten combos were handed out after that, resulting in the highest penalty-minute total so far in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs (110).
A shorthanded, empty-net goal by Marshal Rifai rounded out the scoring with 3:34 left to play.
Penguins goalie Sergei Murashov posted 28 saves on 32 shots faced in defeat, while Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov secured 32 saves.
The Eastern Conference Final returns to Northeast Pennsylvania for Game 6 on Sunday, June 7. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will try to stave off elimination when the puck drops at 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza.
If necessary, Game 7 will also take place on the Penguins’ home ice on Tuesday, June 9 with a 7:05 p.m. start time.
Individual playoff game tickets can be purchased by calling the Penguins’ front office at (570) 208-7367 or at wbspenguins.com. Penguins Playoff Packages are also available only by reaching out to the Penguins directly.
Playoff packages, which are billed on a pay-as-we-play basis, include tickets to every confirmed home game during the postseason. Each package also comes with an $8 voucher for every home game, which can be redeemed at Savor concession stands or at the Penguins Igloo Team Store located inside Mohegan Arena at Casey Plaza on each designated game date.
Every minute of Penguins playoff hockey can be watched online with the league’s streaming service, AHLTV on FloHockey. AHLTV on FloHockey provides its subscribers access to not just every regular-season and Calder Cup Playoff game for all 32 AHL teams, but also more than 21,000 hockey contests from other professional and junior leagues on FloHockey, as well as access to all other live event streams and replays across FloSports.
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