Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Easton Cowan came up huge for the AHL's Toronto Marlies, scoring the game-winning goal in a do-or-die Game 5 of the third round, with 12 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Toronto Marlies are advancing to the Eastern Conference final of the AHL's Calder Cup playoffs, and in the most dramatic fashion possible.
Left winger Easton Cowan is the hero for Toronto as he scored the game-winning goal with 12 seconds remaining in the third period, sending the Cleveland Monsters home.
The Marlies ended the do-or-die Game 5 with a 3-2 victory, moving on from the thirdround of the playoffs to pay a visit to the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the Eastern Conference final.
This season marks the first time the Marlies advance to the third round of the AHL's post-season since the 2018-19 campaign, when Sheldon Keefe was coaching the team.
Cowan's heroic goal marks his second goal of the series against Cleveland, and he now has four goals and eight points in the Calder Cup playoffs.
Though the 21-year-old wasn't having the hottest of series against the Monsters, Cowan came through for the Marlies when his team needed him most.
The Monsters led for the majority of Sunday's game. But the Marlies crawled back into the contest, thanks to a one-timer from captain Logan Shaw with 4:30 left in the third period, tying the game at 2-2.
From there, Cleveland continued to push and had a number of threatening opportunities, but Toronto was able to prevail.
On Cowan's game-winning marker, Jacob Quillan picked up the puck behind the Monsters' net and threw a blind backhand pass to the slot for Vinni Lettieri.
Lettieri fanned on two tries at shooting the puck on goal. But the puck fell to Cowan's stick waiting at the side of the goal, and he buried the puck into the empty net.
This is a huge moment for Cowan in his young career, pulling through for his team in the most delicate of moments. No matter how far the Marlies will be able to go in this AHL post-season, he can take this experience with him when he rejoins the Toronto Maple Leafs' roster next season.
Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Toronto will be on Wednesday, and will be a best-of-seven series.
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