Cowan and Villeneuve each tallied three points for the Marlies in their 6-2 win over Laval in Game 2.
Easton Cowan has arrived for the Toronto Marlies in the Calder Cup playoffs.
The 20-year-old registered three points in the Marlies' Game 2 win over the Laval Rocket on Friday night. Toronto's 6-2 win puts the North Division semifinal series even at one as it shifts to Coca-Cola Coliseum on Sunday.
Laval scored two goals midway through the first period before Marlies captain Logan Shaw got Toronto on the board with a power play goal. Cowan dug the puck out from along the boards to Vinni Lettieri, who found Shaw open for a clear shot into the net.
The Marlies went to the man advantage again, not even five minutes into the second period. This time, it was Lettieri who found the back of the net off a one-time pass from William Villeneuve on the power play to tie the game at two.
Cowan registered the secondary assist on that goal, too.
Luke Haymes put the Marlies up 3-2 late in the second period, again, on the power play. Villeneuve made a nice pass down low to Ryan Tverberg, who found Haymes in front for his first goal of the playoffs.
Just over a minute into the third period, Cowan went end-to-end, getting around three Laval players before sliding a backhand past Kaapo Kähkönen, putting the Marlies up 4-2.
Cedric Pare added an empty-netter with less than four minutes left, and Noah Chadwick ripped a shot past Kähkönen on the power play for his first pro playoff goal to finish the game off.
Artur Akhtyamov came into the net for Game 2 after Laval defeated Toronto in the opening game of the series on Wednesday, with Dennis Hildeby in the net. Akhtyamov stopped 29 of 31 shots against for his first pro playoff win.
This was by far Cowan's best game of the Calder Cup playoffs. He said earlier this week that he felt his game could improve after the first series against the Rochester Americans.
"I feel like I can be more physical in ways," Cowan told reporters on Tuesday, "and obviously make better plays and be smarter with the puck."
His goal and two assists on Friday night put him up to five points through as many games in the AHL playoffs. He's tied with Shaw and Villeneuve — who had three assists on Friday — for second in team scoring, while Lettieri leads with seven points in Toronto's first five games.
Lettieri is also first in AHL playoff scoring with four goals and three assists.
With the win, the series now shifts to Toronto, tied 1-1. Game 3 of the series goes down on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. ET inside Coca-Cola Coliseum. Game 4 will also be in Toronto on Tuesday, and if the series needs a Game 5, it'll be back in Laval on Friday night.