There is not a whole lot to be happy about as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan. The season was miserable and now we're waiting for draft lottery balls to go our way. The team still needs a general manager and there are unsavoury candidates who might not fit the team very well. And, the playoffs are going on with the Maple Leafs not involved for the first time in a fairly long time.
It's pretty miserable in Toronto.
But, there is a player making some magic in the hockey that still is happening in this city and thankfully it's Easton Cowan.
Easton Cowan scores must-see goal in AHL playoffs for the Marlies
Now down in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies carving through the AHL playoffs, Cowan is finally getting to flourish into the offensive player that he was only able to show glimpses of in the NHL this past season.
And it has all come to fruition as the Marlies were playing Game 2 of their second-round series against the Laval Rocket on Friday night and having lost Game 1, they really needed a performance put in. So, here comes Cowan storming down the middle of the road and just absolutely giving it to the Rocket to tie the series.
YEE TO THE HAW ðŸ¤
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 2, 2026
Cowboy makes it 4-2! pic.twitter.com/jgF45acjBs
That is just a thing of beauty and maybe a perfect example of why Cowan might have been right to stick in the NHL no matter what the outside noise said. The 20-year-old winger virtually starts from his own goal line, picking up speed with open ice ahead of him.
And in the perfect opportunity, catches every single Rocket defender on their heels, is able to stickhandle his way through the last remaining piece and backhand it over the opposing netminder's shoulder. It is a goal that typically only comes out of corny Disney movies when they attempt to know anything at all about the sport.
The Marlies ended up winning that game 6-2, with an empty-net goal added and a very late-game power-play tally scored by Noah Chadwick to put the game away. And somewhat unbelievably, Cowan's goal was the only one scored by Toronto on Friday at 5-on-5.
That was Cowan's first goal of the AHL playoffs but in five games so far, he has earned three points.
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