The Cleveland Monsters blanked the Toronto Marlies 4-0 on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at Coca-Cola Coliseum, grabbing a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five American Hockey League North Division Finals.
Cleveland outshot Toronto 30-16, limiting the Marlies to just 10 shots through the first two periods. The Marlies now face elimination in Game 4 on Friday, May 22.
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Key Goals and Goaltending
Forward Owen Sillinger opened the scoring at 4:57 of the first period. Hudson Fasching doubled the lead with a power-play goal at 17:20.
Justin Pearson and Mikael Pyyhtiä sealed the win with empty-net goals in the third period.
Monsters goaltender Zach Sawchenko stopped all 16 shots for his first shutout since late 2024. Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov made 26 saves in the loss.
Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber praised his team's defensive effort.
"We defended well, we made good decisions, we still had offensive looks – those are the 60-minute games you need," he said.
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He also highlighted Sawchenko's timely saves: "It's those opportune saves that Sawzy's been making for us that change a game."
Marlies head coach John Gruden lamented his team's lack of offense. "We never found a way to generate anything," he said.
"We've got to find a way to dig in... and we've all got to bring it."
Marlies captain Logan Shaw acknowledged the team hasn't played its best. "They're a good team, but they haven't seen our best game yet," he said.
In the Western Conference, the Chicago Wolves eliminated Grand Rapids three games to one on Thursday to advance to face the Colorado Eagles.
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The best-of-seven Western Conference Finals begin next week in Loveland, Colorado.
