Easton Cowan, Artur Akhtyamov have Marlies win away from Calder Cup title

Marlies take series stranglehold, beat Chicago in Game 3

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Published Jun 16, 2026  •  Last updated 6 minutes ago  •  3 minute read

Easton Cowan of the Toronto Marlies celebrates with teammates after scoring what turned out to be the only goal of Game 3 of the Calder Cup final on June 16, 2026 in Toronto. The Marlies beat the Chicago Wolves 1-0. Photo by Thomas Skrlj /Toronto Marlies

Forget, even for a minute or two, that the Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup in 59 years.

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The club’s minor-league affiliate has proven to be more than capable through the spring of 2026 that it’s worthy of filling the championship void.

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The Toronto Marlies are on the cusp of winning the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League playoffs after beating the Chicago Wolves 1-0 on Tuesday night at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

The Marlies lead the best-of-seven series 3-0 and can complete the sweep on Thursday night at home. If the Wolves prevail, the Marlies will get another crack in Game 5 on Friday, also on home ice.

Solid mix of veterans, youth

The Marlies’ lone Calder Cup win came in 2018 with a team featuring future Leafs such as Andreas Johnsson, Trevor Moore and Justin Holl.

Now, it’s a perfect mix of veterans including Vinni Lettieri, captain Logan Shaw, Dakota Mermis and youngsters Artur Akhytamov, Easton Cowan and Ben Danford that have brought the Marlies to within one victory of AHL glory.

Akhytamov and Cowan each put his stamp on the Game 3 win.

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In his 18th consecutive start, Akhytamov was sharp yet again, finishing with 24 saves for his second shutout of the post-season. With six minutes remaining, Akhtyamov made a point-blank save on Wolves forward Noah Philp.

Cowan was around the Wolves net all night and in the second period scored his eighth goal of the post-season.

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‘Good sign’ for organization

For Leafs general manager John Chayka, the Marlies run has been enjoyable, obviously. He’s coming at it with a unique perspective having been hired in May, long after the team was built.

“Any time as a manager you get some wins that you have nothing to do with, that’s always a good thing,” Chayka said with a bit of a smile during a Zoom call with media on Tuesday afternoon. “Certainly the Marlies’ success is something that (GM) Ryan Hardy and his team and (coach) John Gruden and their staff has bred over the course of (several) seasons.

“Winning is the best development and the teams that have won have historically been able to move players up at a higher rate, so the fact that they’re sitting where they’re at, it’s a good sign for the organization.”

Cowan, in all likelihood, is playing his last games at this level, barring a post-injury conditioning stint in the AHL sometime later in his hockey career.

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Cowan comes through

Cowan’s goal, at 2:47 of the second period, came off a quick shot from the faceoff circle that squeezed through Wolves goalie Cayden Primeau and over the line.

The second period was dominated by the Marlies, who found their legs in front of a boisterous and loud crowd.

Chicago outshot Toronto 13-5 in a first period that didn’t feature any scoring as Akhtyamov saved his teammates’ bacon a few times following turnovers in the defensive zone. Stops on forwards Noel Gunler and Nikita Pavlychev were among Akhytamov’s more difficult saves in the opening 20 minutes.

Any hope the Wolves had of tying the game effectively was snuffed out with 4:34 left in the third period when Pavlychev was assessed a major for charging for a hit on Marlies defenceman Henry Thrun.

Jacob Quillan returned to the Marlies lineup after he missed the previous five games because of an upper-body injury and centred a line with Cowan and Ryan Tverberg.

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