Marlies force Game 5 with 5-2 win over Monsters

Ryan Tverberg gave the Marlies the spark they had been missing, finishing with two goals and an assist as Toronto beat Cleveland 5-2 at Coca-Cola Coliseum and forced a deciding Game 5 in the North Division finals. Artur Akhtyamov made 36 saves and carried a shutout bid into the final three minutes, turning a must-win game into the kind of response that can swing a playoff series.

This was more than a bounce-back. After Cleveland had taken a 2-1 series lead with a 4-0 Game 3 win, holding Toronto to 16 shots and 30-16 in total attempts, the Marlies finally looked like they were dictating the terms instead of absorbing them. Through the first three games, Toronto had been limited to 50 shots on goal total and had gone five straight games without reaching 20 shots before breaking through with a far more assertive attack in Game 4. The difference was pace through the neutral zone and a faster conversion of possession into actual shot volume.

Toronto’s offense came from all over. Alex Nylander, Henry Thrun and Jacob Quillan also scored, while Logan Shaw picked up two assists. The Marlies did not need a flurry from one line to survive Cleveland’s structure this time, because the best players were finally getting into dangerous areas with purpose. Tverberg, who had already scored in Game 1, kept driving the series back toward Toronto’s side by finishing chances rather than simply chasing the game.

Cleveland still made Toronto work for it. Rookie forward Jack Williams scored his first career playoff goal and added an assist, and Zach Sawchenko stopped 21 shots in the loss. But unlike Game 3, when the Monsters smothered Toronto from the start, Game 4 belonged to a Marlies group that played on the front foot and forced the series into a reset.

That matters because Toronto had already shown this postseason that it can survive pressure. The Marlies rallied from 2-0 down to beat Laval in a deciding Game 5 at Place Bell on May 9, and now they have pushed another series to the limit. The winner of Sunday’s Game 5 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, scheduled for 3 p.m. Eastern, moves on to the Eastern Conference Finals. The loser is done. For Toronto, the message from Game 4 was simple: when the pace is theirs and Tverberg is driving the offense, the Marlies are dangerous again.