Photo: Thomas Skrlj
Cleveland rode another stifling defensive effort to a 4-0 victory at Toronto on Wednesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five North Division finals.
The Monsters can wrap up the series with another win in Game 4 at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Friday (7 ET, 
).
Owen Sillinger and Hudson Fasching scored in the first period to put the visitors ahead 2-0, and Zach Sawchenko (5-1) made 16 saves for his first shutout since Nov. 29, 2024 – also against Toronto.
The Monsters outshot the Marlies, 30-16, holding Toronto under 20 shots for the third straight time in the series.
Justin Pearson and Mikael Pyyhtiä finished the scoring with empty-net goals late in the third.
Artur Akhtyamov (5-4) made 26 saves for the Marlies.
(Cleveland leads series, 2-1)
Game 1 – Thu., May 14 – Toronto 5, CLEVELAND 2
Game 2 – Sat., May 16 – CLEVELAND 3, Toronto 1
Game 3 – Wed., May 20 – Cleveland 4, TORONTO 0
Game 4 – Fri., May 22 – Cleveland at Toronto, 7:00
*Game 5 – Sun., May 24 – Toronto at Cleveland, 3:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
