Toronto Marlies head coach John Gruden discusses his team’s 5-2 victory over the Cleveland Monsters in Game 4 of the North Division final.
On the team finding a higher level to its play in a do-or-die game, after two straight losses:
It definitely hasn’t happened in this series other than the third period of the first game.
We got our team back. They found their confidence. They found their mojo. And I knew they would. We’ve said it all year and all playoffs long: When their backs are against the wall, it brings out the best in them. I guess that is a good trait to have when your team is on the brink of losing.
We just have to bring it again. We’ve got to bottle it up, understand what was successful, make sure we get our rest, enjoy the win, and make sure we are ready to go on Sunday.
On his trust in Artur Akhtyamov in big games, and what it does for his confidence:
It does a lot. He is the reason we are in this position. Again, we have a great ace in the hole, I call it. It is nice to have two aces in the hole out there.
He played well. He is still feeling confident. It would’ve been nice to keep them off the scoreboard at the end, but hey, that is part of the game. It won’t bother him. He’ll be ready, I am sure, on Sunday.
On what gives him the confidence Akhtyamov can come through in big moments:
Again, he has done it. Both of them have. Artie has won a championship in Russia. He just seems to have that demeanor — both goalies do — of, “whatever.” It’s like a quarterback throwing an interception for a pick-six. He just kind of lets it fall off of him. He moves on to the next save. He has a great mindset.
He is the type of goalie who is built for playoff hockey. He is taking the ball and running with it right now. But again, it is still early in the playoffs, and we are just very fortunate to have two outstanding goaltenders.
On Jacob Quillan scoring his first of the playoffs:
Scoring that goal, you could see the excitement and the confidence. It just makes a big difference. Scoring helps. You’ve got to be okay with winning your shift without scoring, but when you are struggling, it sure does help the confidence. It should go a long way.
RIGHT ON Q!
Jacob Quillan scores to make it 4-0! pic.twitter.com/5D1Gr8v6W4
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 23, 2026
On whether Ryan Tverberg showed he is a better scorer than a fighter:
Haha, well, he wasn’t a willing combatant. I haven’t seen the tape on it or anything. Hey, it started a little bit the shift before, and that is playoff hockey. I am sure he is okay. That is the key.
❗️BEWARE OF THE RHINO❗️
Ryan Tverberg rips one home on the power play to make it 1-0! pic.twitter.com/zmA7nZWqRf
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 22, 2026
On the importance of scoring the first goal of the game:
We talked about it. It was huge for the confidence.
I thought our fourth line brought a lot. The Johnson and Sim line brought a lot of energy and drew that penalty. They set the tone. We were able to capitalize on that power play, and it was a huge confidence boost for our group.
On the power play breaking through with two goals after a 1-for-9 stretch earlier in the series:
It translates to the five-on-five when they get touches. They made a couple of nice plays. It carried over to their five-on-five. They didn’t get frustrated.
Again, we will have to make sure we bring it again on Sunday. It is obviously a huge game.
On the benefits of some of the young players experiencing a winner-take-all Game 5 on Sunday:
Yeah, it means a lot. You can see Ben Danford’s confidence getting better and better as he goes on. It will take some time for him to adjust, but good players always adjust.
I thought Cowan played one of his best games, too.
By moving Bo Groulx to center, it changed it up a little bit. It kind of helped settle things down.
Both of those young players are gaining more confidence as the playoffs go along.
On switching up the matchups:
We went to a hard matchup today. We had to simplify and get little wins. Win your matchup. If you win your matchup and everyone wins their matchup, we will win the game. That is the mindset we went into it with.
It will be harder on the road to get the matchups you want — we don’t get the last change — and I am usually more worried about what we do. But we figured that would be a good way for us to start and for us to get little wins within the game. I think the confidence built as it went on.
