Maple Leafs prospect Cowan sets Knights franchise record in playoff win
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan made London Knights history in spectacular fashion on Monday.
Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan made London Knights history in spectacular fashion on Monday night.
The 19-year-old winger notched his 90th playoff point, setting a new franchise record with an assist on a stick-breaking slapshot from Kasper Halttunen.
How Cowan set up the goal was even more notable, taking the puck into the teeth of the defence and spinning to dodge a check before finding Halttunen.
The goal proved important, as the Knights held off the Oshawa Generals 7-5 to take a 2-1 lead in their Ontario Hockey League championship series. Halttunen scored three goals, Cowan had two goals and an assist.
Taken 28th overall by the Maple Leafs in the 2023 NHL Draft, Cowan had 69 points (29 goals, 40 assists) in 46 games for the Knights during the regular season.
The left-shot winger also had a 65-game OHL point streak come to an end in February.
Cowan is leading the Knights with 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) in 14 games this post-season.
Jacob Julien and Jesse Nurmi also scored for the Knights, who take a 2-1 lead in the OHL’s best-of-seven championship series. Sam O’Reilly added two assists.
Owen Griffin, Luca D’Amato, Colby Barlow and Luke Torrance scored for the Generals, who will host Game 4 on Tuesday. Luca Marrelli chipped in with three assists.
The Knights led 2-0 after the first period and took a 5-1 lead into the third.
The Generals outshot the Knights 36-27 and went 1-for-5 on the power play. The Knights were 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
The Generals opened the series with a 4-2 road win on Thursday, but the Knights bounced back with a 5-2 win in Saturday’s second game to salvage a split at home.
-With files from The Canadian Press
