Are Marlies Using Smoke & Mirrors? Win Game 1 of East Final
I don’t know what you would call the Toronto Marlies’ game plan during the 2026 AHL playoffs — smoke and mirrors, rope-a-dope, or something else entirely. For the seventh time in their last eight games, the Marlies were outshot and surrendered the game’s first goal. Yet they continue to find ways to win — not just games, but important ones. The result was a 4-2 Marlies win.
Once again, the Marlies were outshot but won.
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins outshot Toronto 36-16 and opened the scoring at 16:48 of the first period on a goal by Alex Alexeyev. Easton Cowan tied the game on the Marlies’ sixth shot at 1:38 of the second period, and William Villeneuve gave Toronto a 2-1 lead at 16:56 on just the Marlies’ ninth shot of the game and only their third shot of the second period. By that point, the Penguins had already directed 24 shots on Artur Akhtyamov.
Wilkes-Barre tied the game 2-2 at the 6:01 mark of the third period and, much like the Marlies’ Game 5 against the Cleveland Monsters, overtime seemed inevitable. That changed with 1:38 remaining in regulation.
The Marlies “Identity Line” comes through.
Marc Johnstone found Michael Pezzetta in the high slot, but the pass skipped over Pezzetta’s stick, forcing him to corral the puck with his skate before knocking it onto his blade. The brief hesitation appeared to freeze Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov, and Pezzetta beat him over the glove to give Toronto a 3-2 lead. Forty-eight seconds later, Henry Thrun’s clearing attempt deflected off Logan Shaw and into the empty net, sealing the victory.
As is often the case in the AHL, chaos followed shortly afterward when Johnstone and Tristan Broz got tangled up in the corner. The resulting scrum led to 10 penalties and more than 60 penalty minutes being assessed.
The numbers certainly don’t favour the Marlies.
The numbers during this playoff run are almost difficult to believe. Over their last six postseason games, the Marlies have been outshot 186-116 and outscored 9-1 in the first period. Despite that, Toronto has won four of those six games. Any hockey coach will tell you that winning consistently while playing this way is unsustainable. Yet the resilient Marlies continue to defy the odds.
The AHL’s playoff MVP award — the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy — is typically reserved for players on championship-calibre teams. At this point in the postseason, however, Akhtyamov has to be firmly in the conversation. Without his stellar play, the Marlies would most likely be golfing by now.
Game 2 of the series goes Friday night in Wilkes-Barre before the series shifts to Toronto for Games 3 through 5.