Cleveland closes in on Eastern final, Colorado-Chicago set in West

Cleveland can end Toronto’s season and punch its ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals tonight, a possibility made sharper by the way the Monsters have choked off the Marlies’ offense all series. The Monsters took Game 3 by 4-0 on May 20, rode an early first-period push from Owen Sillinger and Hudson Fasching, and got a 16-save shutout from Zach Sawchenko to move within one win of the next round.

That shutout was more than a clean sheet. Cleveland limited Toronto to 16 shots in Game 3, held the Marlies under 20 shots for the third straight game, and had given up only 50 shots through the first three games of the series. The pattern has worn down a Toronto team that entered the postseason on a four-year playoff streak, had clinched its berth on April 8, and was making its 15th overall playoff appearance after winning the Calder Cup in 2018 and reaching the final in 2012.

The Monsters have their own title pedigree to lean on. Cleveland won the Calder Cup in 2016, and this run has already produced one of the most punishing games in franchise history, with Game 2 stretching to 99:05, the longest game ever played by the Monsters and the longest for a Cleveland AHL team since April 4, 1962. Toronto answered with a 3-1 win in that game, but Sawchenko still made 17 saves in defeat before Cleveland reset the series two nights later.

Out West, the bracket is already locked in for a Colorado-Chicago meeting that will send one club to the Calder Cup Finals. Colorado reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time by beating Coachella Valley 3-2 on May 20, extending a rapid rise for a franchise that entered the league in 2018-19 after expansion approval in October 2017. The Eagles eliminated the Firebirds three games to one and now face another major test against a Wolves team with far deeper playoff history.

Chicago closed out Grand Rapids with a 3-2 win at Allstate Arena on May 21, getting two goals from Noah Philp and 33 saves from Cayden Primeau. The Wolves will play in their seventh conference final since joining the AHL in 2001-02 and had already reached the Calder Cup Finals five times before this run, winning three championships overall. Defenseman Charles Alexis Legault was also suspended for one game after a boarding incident against Grand Rapids, a reminder that Chicago had to finish the series without one of its blue-line pieces.

The larger picture has shifted with the bracket. In a 23-team playoff field, no division winners advanced to the conference finals, only the second time that has happened in the last four postseason years. Cleveland, Colorado and Chicago have each forced the field to bend around them, and the next round now belongs to teams that have made structure, goaltending and timely scoring decide the spring.