Head coach John Gruden discusses the Toronto Marlies’ 6-2 Game 2 victory over the Laval Rocket, tying the series at 1-1.
On Easton Cowan’s highlight-reel end-to-end goal:
He has high expectations for himself, and it has been a lot for a young man. He is a winner. Even the way the first period went, for him to come back and play two remarkable periods is pretty impressive. He showed many signs of maturity. Again, he’s understanding what it takes to win, and he is a winner.
YEE TO THE HAW 🤠
Cowboy makes it 4-2! pic.twitter.com/jgF45acjBs
— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) May 2, 2026
On Cowan’s hockey IQ:
The way it started tonight, and the way it has gone for him… He has high expectations for himself, and I just thought he did an unbelievable job of coming back. He played two great periods. He played well in the first, too, but just from that one goal that happened…
It says a lot about his character. His teammates like having him around. This is going to be huge for him as we continue to grow in the playoffs and for him personally.
We want to give him some structure away from the puck, and we don’t want to take away his creativity. He is a dynamic player who can make big plays in big moments. That was a big play in a big moment. Huge goal for us.
On what he liked about the team’s performance:
The resiliency of the bounce back of being 2-0 on the road. We could’ve just folded the tent. It says a lot about our leadership again. I can’t stress that enough, the composure that we had and the fight that we had, with the resiliency to come back. A lot to like. The power play was outstanding as well.
On the power play’s 4-for-10 night:
When a team starts to get a little undisciplined, as they did, we have to take advantage of those moments. If you don’t, they’ll continue to take liberties. They won’t fear our power play.
I thought our guys responded extremely well, up and down the lineup.
The penalty kill was great — big blocked shots — and Artur Akhytamov was outstanding when he needed to be.
The resilience and the way we did it were impressive.
On what clicked on the man advantage:
A couple of those goals were just relieving the pressure. They come with a lot of pressure. Our guys did a good job of being in the right spots and then executing in those areas.
And then it is confidence. When you score a couple, you get a little confident, and the power play feels good. It also builds your five-on-five game; it gives you energy and gives the bench a boost as well.
A lot to like.
On Laval’s antics at the end of the game:
Yeah, they can do it, and I liked the fact that we sent out five guys, and they scored a huge power-play goal, too. We want to be good sports about everything, but we also want to protect our players in those moments when they are running around. I thought our guys did a good job of staying in the moment.
