The Western Conference championship will be decided tonight as the Colorado Eagles host the Chicago Wolves in Game 7 (9:05 ET, 
).
The winner gets the Robert W. Clarke Trophy and advances to play the Toronto Marlies in the 2026 Calder Cup Finals.
Chicago stormed back from two goals down to defeat Colorado, 3-2, in Game 6 last night, with Ronan Seeley (1-1-2) scoring the winning goal with 4:14 to play.
Seeley’s goal came less than three minutes after Joel Nyström (2-4-6) had tied the game.
After a brief relief appearance in Game 5, Amir Miftakhov (1-0, 1.79, .952) made his first start of the postseason for the Wolves last night and stopped 36 shots, including all 23 he faced over the final two periods.
The Wolves’ victory marked the 10th time during these playoffs that a team had won a game after trailing by two goals (or more).
“We’ve got to do more to add to our lead,” Eagles head coach Mark Letestu said. “Miftakhov comes in, plays a pretty good game for them, but by not adding to the lead you give them an opportunity.”
Jack Ahcan (1-4-5) and Valtteri Puustinen (1-1-2) both scored their first goal of the playoffs to stake Colorado to a 2-0 lead after one period. Tristen Nielsen (10-7-17) recorded two assists – his eighth multi-point game of the postseason – to move into a tie for the league scoring lead.
Nielsen was with the Abbotsford Canucks last year when they went into Colorado and took a 5-0 decision in a winner-take-all Game 5 from the Eagles in the division finals.
“Playing in front of these fans, in this rink, it’s hard (as a visitor) to get two of them,” Nielsen said. “When you have 20 guys willing to do whatever it takes to win a hockey game, no one can really stand in your way.”
Chicago is 3-1 all-time in AHL Game 7’s. Their last such game was a 6-5 overtime loss to Texas in the division finals in 2010. Colorado is playing a Game 7 in the Calder Cup Playoffs for the first time.
“There’s no time to pout,” Letestu added. “We’ve got to move on. We’ve got a big game at home that we earned through a good regular season. I’m excited to see our response.”
Quick Hits:
- Tonight will be the 99th Game 7 in Calder Cup Playoff history. Home teams are 56-42 (.571), and the team scoring first is 76-22 (.776).
- This is the first time since 2014 that the Western Conference Finals have gone to a Game 7.
- After recording a 1.26 goals-against average and a .947 save percentage through the Eagles’ first three rounds, Trent Miner (11-5, 1.73, .929) has allowed 15 goals on 148 shots against the Wolves (2.56, .899).
- Colorado captain Jayson Megna missed his 10th consecutive game last night, while the Wolves were without their regular-season scoring leader Felix Unger Sörum for a fourth straight contest.
- Both teams scored on the power play in Game 6. Chicago is now 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) in the series, and Colorado is 6-for-25 (24.0 percent).
- The Eagles have outshot their opponents in 14 of 15 games this postseason, including all six games of this series.
The Marlies await tonight’s winner after finishing off Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. Toronto claimed the Richard F. Canning Trophy with a 2-1 overtime win last night.
Former Penguins forward Alex Nylander (5-0-5) scored at 13:44 of the extra period to give the Marlies their third conference championship. It was Nylander’s second career Calder Cup Playoff overtime goal; he also scored the series-clincher when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton eliminated Hershey in the first round in 2022.
“It was an amazing feeling when I saw that puck went in,” said Nylander, who played 142 games for Wilkes-Barre over parts of three seasons from 2021-24. “We’ve been getting better and better throughout the playoffs. Our team’s playing great, we never quit, and we keep believing in each other.”
Easton Cowan (7-6-13) also scored in Game 6, his third goal of the series and his fourth in his last five games played. Artur Akhtyamov (11-6, 2.12, .927) made 39 saves on the night, shutting out the Penguins over the final 67:18 of the contest.
“I’m proud of our group – staff, coaches, everyone from top to bottom,” Marlies captain Logan Shaw said. “Everyone’s done what they’ve had to do to put us here. We’ve been through a lot as a group, but we believe in ourselves. There’s still a lot of work to do but it’s been a fun ride so far.”
“It hasn’t been easy, but it’s not supposed to be easy,” said Toronto head coach John Gruden. “That’s a really talented team that we just beat. We’ve got to enjoy this (but) make sure we know we still have lots of work to go.”
Quick Hits:
- Toronto won all three games at Mohegan Arena in the series, improving to 7-3 on the road this postseason.
- Artur Akhtyamov finished with a .936 save percentage in the conference finals, including a .964 mark (106 saves on 110 shots) in the three road wins.
- The Marlies’ previous Calder Cup Finals appearances came in 2012 (a four-game loss to Norfolk) and 2018 (a seven-game win over Texas).
- Toronto finished fourth in the North Division during the regular season with a record of 36-26-5-5 (82 points). Their .569 points percentage is the lowest by an eventual Calder Cup finalist since Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (.538) reached the Finals in 2004.
- With the Marlies’ win last night, road teams are 12-4 in overtime this postseason.
A2-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. N4-Toronto Marlies
(Toronto wins series, 4-2)
Game 1 – Toronto 4, W-B/SCRANTON 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – Toronto 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (OT) | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – W-B/Scranton 5, TORONTO 3 | Recap | Highlights
Game 4 – W-B/Scranton 4, TORONTO 3 | Recap | Highlights
Game 5 – TORONTO 5, W-B/Scranton 1 | Recap | Highlights
Game 6 – Toronto 2, W-B/SCRANTON 1 (OT) | Recap | Highlights
P2-Colorado Eagles vs. C2-Chicago Wolves
Game 7 – Tonight, 9:05 ET,
(Series tied, 3-3)
Game 1 – Chicago 3, COLORADO 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 2 – COLORADO 5, Chicago 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 3 – Colorado 3, CHICAGO 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 4 – CHICAGO 2, Colorado 1 | Recap | Highlights
Game 5 – Colorado 7, CHICAGO 3 | Recap | Highlights
Game 6 – Chicago 3, COLORADO 2 | Recap | Highlights
Game 7 – Mon., June 8 – Chicago at Colorado, 9:05
*if necessary… All times Eastern
