Craig Berube encouraged by play of Easton Cowan, Dennis Hildeby in preseason loss to Senators

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 3-2 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, but head coach Craig Berube was impressed with the players who were fighting for spots.

The Leafs had most of their A-team suited up, with the exception of a few younger players who are pushing for a spot on the roster. One of those players is top prospect Easton Cowan, who left a good impression on Berube for the second game in a row.

“He’s doing those things, simplified, simple hockey,” Berube told reporters following the overtime loss. “Using his speed. Obviously he has abilities out there, with making plays and things like that, which he showed me tonight. But they were the right plays at the right time, which is important.”

Making plays at the right time is in fact important, and it shows that Berube has confidence in Cowan to be using him in these situations. As a rookie, overthinking things is something that will hurt you, and Berube was happy with his ability to keep his game straightforward.

“I thought that he played direct all game. He worked and hounded, back-checked, did a lot of good things.”

Although he’s firmly etched as the Maple Leafs’ third-string goaltender behind the tandem of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll, Dennis Hildeby had a strong performance that stuck out to his NHL head coach, too.

“He was good, I thought he tracked the puck well, made the saves,” Berube said. “But down in tight around the net there were a lot of scramble plays, and he was pretty solid covering the net.”

Hildeby was strong on Tuesday night, stopping all 23 shots he faced before fellow prospect Artur Akhtyamov came into the game to relieve him. Cowan picked up an assist on the Bobby McMann goal, giving him a leg up on the competition and keeping Berube’s attention on him a little bit longer. These two players have earned the praise they got from their head coach, but there’s still more to prove.

The Maple Leafs will continue preseason on Thursday night when they visit the Montreal Canadiens.