'I Cost The Team': Easton Cowan Takes Accountability, Critical Of His Performance In Maple Leafs' Loss To Flames

Easton Cowan was rather harsh on himself after the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. The 21-year-old essentially blamed himself for the defeat, calling out two mistakes he made in the first period.

"Bad turnover and dumb penalty by me," Cowan said after the game. "Those two goals are on me. I got to be better. I cost the team."

Cowan was referencing Calgary's second goal by Mikael Backlund. Toronto's youngster received the puck along the boards from a Jake McCabe breakout pass. Cowan was rushed by Matt Coronato and Joel Farabee, creating the turnover and combining on Backlund's marker that gave the Flames a 2-0 lead.

Toward the end of that first period, Cowan took two minor penalties, both for roughing. Aydar Suniev completed a check on Cowan against the boards and added a little extra force when both players recovered from the impact. He brought Cowan to the ice, and the Leafs' left winger went after him in response. 

As that went on, Martin Pospisil confronted Cowan, and both of them got physical, with Cowan dropping his gloves on the play. He was charged two minutes for each instance, putting Toronto shorthanded, which led to Calgary's power-play goal early in the second period.

"Yeah, just a dumb penalty by me," Cowan reiterated. "It was selfish of me to take that dumb penalty. Can't have that. Got to be better. Got to control my emotions better."

Cowan did bounce back later in the game to some degree, scoring the Maple Leafs' first goal of the game late in the second, giving the team some life and closing the gap on the scoreboard to make it 3-1.

"Yeah, I thought my second and third were good," he said. "That's how I've been playing. That's how I got to play. So just simple and, yeah, two dumb mistakes."

In celebrating that goal, his sixth of the season, he slammed his stick on the ice and screamed with ferocity, proving that emotions were indeed high for him in this contest.

"Just got to be better," Cowan said, about what to learn from this game. "Have better character and, yeah, be better next time."

This isn't the first time that Cowan has taken the blame for his team's defeat. Back in the Calder Cup playoffs last year, in the Eastern Conference final, Cowan gave up a costly turnover late in the third period. His mistake led to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins winning that Game 4 and even the series.

In the very next contest, he scored a goal and an assist, leading the Toronto Marlies to a Game 5 win and eventually to an AHL championship later that summer. So, he's been in this situation before.

"I think I just obviously take accountability and, you know, try to move on and try to help the team come back," he said about how to reset from a performance like Monday's.

Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller later said that the loss doesn't hang on Cowan's mistakes.

"He made a couple mistakes, but no, there's no singular person that can take the blame for this loss," Hiller said post-game. "That was up and down the lineup. We turned it over too much, and then we didn't defend great, which we did. So, no. I mean, he made mistakes, and I commend him for taking responsibility. But it didn't cost us the game.

"He probably was our best player after the first period, right? But we need that from the start. And it's hard to lean on Easton all the time, right? We've talked about him a lot. And there's other players on the lineup that need to step up as well, not just the youngest or the second youngest guy out there. So he gets a pass. I mean, he's worked hard. He come back, and he redeemed himself. It's the least of my concerns," the bench boss added.

See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.