Easton Cowan’s 3-Point Night, Kirill Marchenko’s Return Fuel Maple Leafs' In Rout Over Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — On the second night of a back-to-back, the Maple Leafs arrived in Ohio looking for simplicity and found it in volume. Toronto generated just 22 shots but converted six of them, including four in a dominant second period to beat the Blue Jackets 6-2 at Nationwide Arena.

The win improved the Leafs to 5-4-2 and marked the second straight victory for a group that has shown signs of settling into a more straightforward style.

Kirill Marchenko returned to the building where he spent four seasons and scored early against a crowd that made its feelings known, including what seemed like a cruel string of breakup songs you’d hear from a scorned lover.

Easton Cowan continued a rapid ascent with a career-best three-point night that included his first short-handed goal in the NHL. Marshall Rifai scored his first NHL goal in just his fifth game. And the team absorbed the early loss of Jake McCabe to a high-stick injury before finishing the night with five defencemen.

Marchenko’s power-play goal at 8:16 of the first period tied the game 1-1 after Jake Christiansen had opened the scoring for Columbus at 2:38. The former Blue Jacket deflected a puck off his foot and past Jet Greaves.

Marchenko described the whole night as being about staying focused in the moment rather than sentimental.

“I try to think about my game again, and I said before, try to focus on like things what I can control,” Marchenko said. “It’s like my game, my shifts, like work hard. Yeah. It’s obviously again special, fans, everything. But happy to play here. Happy to be back.”

He added that the reception did not alter his approach. 

“It’s fine. I’m ready for that, but like again, I can’t control that. I appreciate it for all fans who’s been here when I played, and it doesn’t matter for me. Actually, I just do my work on the ice and try to be better.”

The second period turned the game. 

William Nylander scored at 2:26 on a feed from Morgan Rielly, Auston Matthews added the winner at 3:12 in his 700th NHL game, Cowan scored short-handed at 6:48, and Jack Roslovic finished the stretch at 12:03. 

The four goals in under 10 minutes of game time gave Toronto a 5-1 lead before Charlie Coyle scored early in the third and Rifai closed it out at 16:58.

Rielly, who finished with three assists, said the group tried to keep the game manageable after Monday’s win over San Jose.

“On a back-to-back, you want to try to play simple especially on the road,” Rielly said. “I thought everyone did a good job, obviously. I thought our goalie was outstanding and the penalty kill was good again.”

Anthony Stolarz stopped 35 of 37 shots. The shot disparity was significant — Columbus held a 65-43 edge in Corsi attempts and a narrow edge in expected goals (2.69 to 2.61) according to tracking data from NaturalStatTrick.com — but Toronto’s finishing and special-teams play offset the volume. The Leafs’ penalty kill continued its strong start, and Cowan’s short-handed marker extended a stretch in which the unit has been among the league’s most reliable.

Cowan, playing up beside Matthews and Roslovic at times, said the group trusted the system on the kill. 

“Yeah, I think we’re just trusting the system. We’re having good sticks, good clears, and we’re not allowing much during us. Hopefully we keep that going.”

On the short-handed goal itself, he offered a direct description. 

“Yeah. I had a decent shot there. I think the goalie was favoring Willy, which I probably would too. So, yeah, I just picked my spot.”

Rifai’s first NHL goal came late, a slap shot set up by Rielly and Roslovic. The call-up had already been elevated into more minutes after McCabe left in the first period following a high stick from Kent Johnson that caught him in the face area. Coach Jim Hiller said the decision to hold McCabe out was precautionary after the medical staff evaluated him.

“I bumped into him. Seems to be doing okay, but we just want to make sure. We want to go slow,” Hiller said.

Rifai kept the individual moment in context. 

“First and foremost, just getting the win. We came here to get two points and win back-to-back, and we were able to accomplish that. So all the individual stuff feels a lot better when the team gets the job done.”

He added that he understands the role required to stick around and that the goal was just a bonus.

“Maybe confidence (from the goal) but ultimately, you know, that’s not going to be my calling card to help this team. And I understand that. I’m going to have to block shots. I’m going to have to break pucks out, use my feet and close out. Those are the things that are going to keep me around.”

Hiller praised the overall effort on a night when several players moved into larger roles. On Cowan, the coach said the young forward has met elevated expectations. 

“We’ve talked about him a lot. He’s really — I can’t say enough good things about him. Honestly, like he’s exceeded my expectations, and I had high expectations for him. And I’ve told you, he told me this is what he was going to do, and so he’s living up to his end of the bargain. Now he’s a regular penalty killer, and he’s a good player, and he’s gonna have a great career.”

Rielly described the better version of the Leafs as one that keeps it simple.

“I think as a group, we’ve had a tendency to overcomplicate things or try to make too many plays. And I think when we’re able to keep it simple and just kind of manage the puck, our big guys can kind of take over. I think that’s kind of what happened here.”

Matthews finished with a goal and an assist. Nylander and Roslovic each contributed multi-point nights. The Leafs face the Rangers at home on Thursday. McCabe’s availability will be monitored, but the early indication is that the facial injury did not force an immediate longer absence. 

The Leafs have won consecutive games for the first time this season, something they probably needed for their confidence, having dropped three of the last four games before it. Now it’ll be up to them to see if they can build on it.

NOTES: The Maple Leafs acquired forward Kirill Marchenko, goaltender Elvis Merzļikins (with 18% salary retained), and forward Miles Wood from the Blue Jackets. In return, Columbus received forward Matthew Knies, forward Steven Lorentz, defenseman Emil Andrae, and a 2027 second-round draft pick. Knies and Andrae weren't much of a factor in this game.

Knies had one opportunity in close in the late stages of the first period but his shot went over top of the net.

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