The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 5-2 to the Calgary Flames on Monday, October 26, but the game still offered a few positives.
Of course, it is hard to draw positive conclusions from a defeat, especially since Toronto’s winning streak ended and Kirill Marchenko suffered an injury.
However, at least one positive takeaway was Easton Cowan. According to Nick Alberga and Jay Rosehill on Tuesday’s edition of Daily Faceoff’s “The Leafs Morning Take,” Cowan learned a valuable lesson during the game and rose to the occasion when challenged.
Rosehill specifically discussed Cowan’s struggles and difficult moments in the first period, including puck turnovers, a penalty, and other mistakes. He also explained how the young forward responded after head coach Jim Hiller disciplined him.
Rosehill Says Easton Cowan Grew From Adversity in Maple Leafs Loss
Rosehill said first, “To me, that was a valuable experience that he gained. And sometimes getting experience is going through some adversity.”
He added, “Cowan’s been flying very high, and he’s been feeling it. He’s been getting rewarded. And I’m sure, walking around that city and being on that hockey club, he knows I am getting a lot of love in Leafs Nation right now, and rightfully so. Then all of a sudden, some sloppy turnovers, a little bit gross, right? And he knows, he’s smart enough that this isn’t good enough.”
“He wants to go and say, ‘Well, if I don’t have that stuff today, I’m going to make sure I go do the other things.’ Takes a hit that he doesn’t like, which is a clean hit. Then goes and tries to stir it up a little bit. Grabs the back of the guy’s neck and just kind of like, who knows what he’s going to do? Go address it, go cause a scrum, cause a kerfuffle, maybe get in a fight. That Russian kid falls down so egregiously, hurts himself, I’m pretty sure. Then he grabs the next closest guy, whatever; he doesn’t fight. He’s soft as could be. And he just gets himself in a jam where it’s like, ‘Oh God, I’ve tried to get something going here. It’s blown up in my face.’ Costs the team a penalty. Fresh ice power play comes out in the second. They score on it…”
“So what does Jim Hiller do? Which I completely agree with. ‘All right, cowboy, we need to settle this down a little bit. I need to bring you back to earth and kind of remind you what league you’re in. You’re a second-year guy. You’re going to watch for about 12 minutes here.’ Cowan will be the first one to say, ‘I deserve that. That’s what it was. But you know what I’m going to do as soon as I get my shifts back? I am going to be absolutely flooring it, trying to rectify that issue for my team.’
“He then scores a huge goal. See the look on his face. Just oozing energy out of his ears. And guess what? Valuable experience gained. No big deal. He took the loss, said it was all on him. Like he just says all and says all the right things. Those mistakes you can take from a kid his age with his one year of experience behind him. Not an issue whatsoever.”
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