TORONTO — William Nylander came up big for the Toronto Marlies when they needed him the most.

Nylander scored his first hat trick of the season and Antoine Bibeau earned the shutout as the Marlies blanked the Hershey Bears 5-0 to stave off elimination in Game 4 of the American Hockey League's Eastern Conference final.

The Bears still lead the series 3-1 with Game 5 on Sunday afternoon at Toronto's Ricoh Coliseum.

Josh Leivo and Connor Carrick converted on the power play in the third period for the Marlies. Bibeau stopped all 18 shots he faced in net.

Nylander opened the scoring late in the first period to give the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate a one-goal lead heading into the intermission. The Swede made it a 2-0 game at 18:35 of the second.

Leivo and Carrick scored within 25 seconds of each other in the third. Nylander's third goal of the game in the third also came with the man advantage. T.J. Brennan chipped in with four assists.

The Marlies finished the game 3 for 5 on the power play while Hershey was scoreless on four chances.

Justin Peters turned away 28-of-33 shots for the Bears.

Hershey defenceman Madison Bowey was ejected at 11:39 of the third period after elbowing Toronto forward Kasperi Kapanen. Bowey received a major for elbowing and game misconduct.