Thursday night’s win over the New York Rangers was arguably the hardest-fought, most complete effort of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ season so far.

For a young player like Easton Cowan, it meant a night of learning on the fly, facing a big early test against a tough Rangers team. Speaking at morning skate on Friday, he shared how he felt about his performance the night before.

“I just play the best I can and try my best,” Cowan said. “I made a couple of mistakes, it’s the way of the road sometimes. You learn from it and move on.”

Fighting to keep the lead in a very tight game, the 20-year-old winger said it was difficult to bring the intensity needed for the full 60 minutes and it came with a big lesson.

“Just be more simple,” he said. “I felt like my first two periods were good and the third period kind of got away from me, so just get back to that tomorrow.”

Struggling to find his footing in the third period, Cowan’s ice time went down in that final frame while Toronto tried to hang on for the win. Those moments can be frustrating for a young skater, and Cowan shared how he manages his mental game in facing that kind of adversity.

“I try not to be too hard on myself,” he said. “I got high expectations, but it’s a tough league. So just try to be consistent each and every night, that’s the hardest part about this game.”

In three appearances so far with the Leafs, Cowan has quickly jumped into a prominent role, playing on the top line alongside Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. At practice Friday, Cowan continued to skate in that role (albeit with Matthews out for a maintenance day). Still green in the league, Cowan shared what it means to have that faith from Craig Berube.

“It’s good, he has a lot of trust in me,” Cowan said. “Last couple games have been two huge wins for us, looking to keep that going tomorrow, and just trying to help the team out as best as I can.”

Cowan and the Leafs host the Seattle Kraken Saturday night for the fourth match of their five-game homestand.