If this was the final game of Easton Cowan's training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he should be proud of himself.

Many people, including myself, had him pencilled to start the season with the AHL's Toronto Marlies rather than be up in the NHL. But game after game, Cowan has shown that maybe beginning the regular season with the Maple Leafs is a better idea.

The 19-year-old logged 12:23 of ice time on Thursday night — more than Dakota Joshua, Scott Laughton, and Steven Lorentz. However, it was difficult for Cowan to find his rhythm, with the game filled with special teams. Particularly, the penalty kill.

There were strong points in the forward's game, though. He blocked a shot (a lot of Maple Leafs did against Detroit) in the first period. Cowan also teamed up briefly with Max Domi and Matias Maccelli for a scoring chance in the second.

"I felt pretty good, honestly. I liked my game. I thought I created a couple of chances," Cowan said after the 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.

Even though Cowan had a turnover in the game (he admitted after the loss that he learned from it quite quickly), the forward made up for the mistake with a fast burst going the other way and getting a scoring opportunity on Cam Talbot.

"I thought I could get by him there, but I got to know everyone in pro has got a good stick. "I learned from it. The next play, I got it out," Cowan said of his turnover.

"They pressured really well, and they're quick and they're right on you, so you've got to make quick decisions. And those types of plays, you've got to put pucks to areas and go get it," Maple Leafs head coach Berube added. "We did it a few times tonight, I thought. They were on us quick. We didn't move it quick enough. It's as simple as that."

Despite calling the lines a work in progress following the loss to Detroit, Toronto's head coach made a point to mention how much he's liked the Lorentz, Laughton, and Cowan trio. That's certainly a positive as training camp comes to a close in less than a week.

Anthony Stolarz Makes 40 Saves And Other Takeaways From Maple Leafs' Pre-Season Loss To Red Wings Just one more game until the Toronto Maple Leafs' pre-season is over. We're almost there.

But time will tell if Cowan has impressed the Maple Leafs enough to stick around for the start of the regular season. And if he does make the team out of camp, the young forward can tick that off his checklist of goals he had entering this year.

"I felt like I did good things and played some of my best hockey I've played in a while, and that's a good 200-foot game, generating chances," Cowan said. "Eventually they're going to go in, so I'm just going to keep having that mindset and keeping it day by day, like I've been saying."

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