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Easton Cowan made a devastating admission after Leafs’ loss to Flames

The Toronto Maple Leafs young winger commented on his mistake that led to a goal against the Calgary Flames.
ByThomas Williams
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Dec 30, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Easton Cowan (53) skates during the warmup before a game against the New Jersey Devils at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
Dec 30, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Easton Cowan (53) skates during the warmup before a game against the New Jersey Devils at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

There are a lot of things to blame for the Toronto Maple Leafs suffering a brutal 5-2 defeat to the Calgary Flames on Monday night, but one winger wants to put it all on himself.

Easton Cowan has had a great start to the season and has made a sizeable jump into being a regular top-six winger who tries hard on every single shift and has scored six goals and 13 points in 14 games to really put a stamp on just how good he has been on the ice. Unfortunately, thoughtful play with the puck can't be 100% accurate at just 21 years old and he had a night that featured some moments to forget.

Easton Cowan blames himself for Leafs' loss

Cowan did score the opening goal for the Leafs in this game to keep up those scoring numbers but the attention to detail wasn't there from the start. He coughed up the puck to Joel Farabee, who then started the play that ended with Mikael Backlund scoring the Flames' second goal of the game to make it 2-0.

Then, Cowan also took a penalty in the final moments of the first period that then directly resulted in Matvei Gridin scoring on the ensuing power play to make it 3-0 for the home team.

The 21-year-old winger then decided to put it all on himself after the game.

“Bad turnover and a dumb penalty by me, so those two goals are on me and I’ve got to be better,” Cowan said via TSN’s Mark Masters. “I cost us the game. ... It was selfish of me to take that dumb penalty. Can’t have that. Got to be better. Got to control my emotions better so, yeah, not good.”

Much more to blame in that brutal loss

Cowan did have a not-so-great game but his untimely penalty and terrible giveaway served as only a slice of the blame pie. It is a pretty large slice, but the Leafs have the talent to get out from under making a couple of bad errors.

Sergei Bobrovsky deserves a slice, after starting off the game poorly and not seeming like he's fully in-tune with the play in front of him. He settled in after that, finishing the game going 29-for-32, but it was a rough start that really put the game away.

Kirill Marchenko getting injured and not being able to finish the game also hurt the Leafs, since they lose one of their biggest offensive weapons. And we have to give some credit to the Flames, who are on a hot streak as of late. They're just feeling themselves.

Cowan certainly made some costly mistakes, but it's also the process of learning how to be a full-time NHLer and now that he has a much larger role than last season and on a better team with maybe more expectations, the pressure could be mounting. He has a good enough head on his shoulders to perservere and learn from this, at least.

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