Cowan will skate on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Nikita Grebenkin in Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Cowan will skate on a line with Pontus Holmberg and Nikita Grebenkin in Ottawa on Tuesday night.
Easton Cowan wants to keep building his game as he enters already his second pre-season matchup with the Maple Leafs on Tuesday in Ottawa.
The 19-year-old forward began Sunday's game against the Ottawa Senators skating alongside David Kampf and Ryan Reaves before being moved up to a line with veterans John Tavares and Max Pacioretty after the second period.
Cowan didn't register a point but was on the ice for a goal, which is a positive to take out of his first NHL pre-season game this year. The young forward will be looking for that type of production, and more, on Tuesday when the Maple Leafs take on a more NHL-heavy Senators lineup.
"I'm kind of just going into it as I'm just having fun. I'm playing against some really good NHLers tonight. Obviously, (Brady) Tkachuk, (Tim) Stutzle, and (Claude) Giroux. All great players. It'll be really fun to play against them. I'm kind of just looking to have fun tonight and just play my game, work hard, and looking to show what I can do."
When Cowan takes to the ice in Ottawa, he'll be skating on a line with Marlies captain Logan Shaw in the middle and another player making noise in Maple Leafs' training camp, Nikita Grebenkin.
Heading into Tuesday's game, though, the forward wants to implement more conviction into his play, having played once already in the pre-season.
"I found that I had a bit more space than I thought out there and just getting back adjusted to the speed. It'll be easier for me to adjust tonight, obviously, with playing the last game and having a little game under my belt and just getting back into it. So I'm excited again for tonight."
Making the Maple Leafs out of camp will be difficult for Cowan, and others, given Toronto's depth at forward. It's not easy, and it never was, but if the winger has a big game against Ottawa's top players, his chances of making the squad will only grow.
That's why Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is throwing him in the lineup again. He wants to see more from the forward.
"He did some real good things (in Sunday's game). I moved him around, I wanted to see him with different players and things, which we did. He got a little power play [time] and things like that. Maybe a little bit of penalty kill. He did some good things," Berube said on Tuesday morning.
"Like I said, he's a very good player. There's a couple of situations where maybe he could have made a different decision with the puck than he did. But, overall, I was pretty pleased with his effort and what he did in the game."
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