Easton Cowan and his London Knight teammates wouldn’t be denied on Monday night in Game 3 of the OHL Championship Series.
The Toronto Maple Leafs’ first-round pick in the 2023 draft handed out three assists in a 7-6 double-overtime win, giving the Knights a 3-0 series lead over the Oshawa Generals.
Trailing 6-2 entering the third period, Oliver Bonk got London back in the game with a pair of power-play goals before Kasper Halttunene and Sam O’Reilly evened the score in the final 10 minutes of the period.
After 12 combined goals in regulation, neither team could find the back of the net in the first 20 minutes of overtime. But it only took London two minutes in the second overtime to complete their wild comeback.
Henry Brzustewicz buried the winner, tapping in a pass from Isaiah George.
Cowan now has 11 points through the first three games of the series, after winning the OHL’s Most Outstanding Player in the regular season.
Picked 28th overall by the Maple Leafs, Cowan won the award after posting 34 goals and 62 assists in 54 games.
He entered the game tied with Colorado Avalanche 2023 first-rounder and Oshawa forward Callum Ritchie and North Bay Battalion forward Sandis Vilmanis in post-season scoring with 27 points each.
However, Ritchie tallied four points of his own in the contest — one goal and three assists — to take sole possession of the playoff lead.
Individual accomplishments aside, the Knights moved one game from their first OHL Championship since 2015-16. The Generals will fight to keep their season alive in Game 4 back at Tribute Communities Centre in Oshawa on Wednesday.
The winner of the series goes on to the Memorial Cup in Saginaw, Mich.
