Photo credit: David Kirouac – Imagn Images

It has drawn a lot of controversy over the years but it looks like Easton Cowan is adding Evgeny Kuznetsov’s shootout move into his tool bag.

In their contest on Friday night, the London Knights took down the Owen Sound Attack in a shootout by a score of 4-3.

Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Easton Cowan recorded 2 assists, including the primary helper on their 2nd goal, making it 3-2 with 1:22 remaining in regulation. Oliver Bonk tied the game up less 40 seconds later to force overtime.

Overtime solved nothing, so both sides went to the shootout with Cowan going first for the Knights. As he stepped up to the mark, he pulled out the Evgeny Kuznetsov “unplugged controller” move before firing it past the frozen goaltender to get his club on the board.

The shootout move was popularized by former NHLer and now current KHLer, Evgeny Kuznetsov, who would come in extremely slow, make way too many stick-handling moves, before freezing the goalie and scoring the goal.

Many around the hockey world fervently despised the move with some claiming it wasn’t a legal shootout play because the puck isn’t always moving forward. Nevertheless it works like a charm and perhaps it’s catching on with the younger players.

The shootout has never been a popular part of extra time, especially since the introduction of 3-on-3, but moves like this could bring back some excitement – whether good or bad – to the skills competition. It always draw a discussion, which is generally good for the game of hockey.

As for Cowan, he currently has 14 goals and 25 points in just 18 contests for the Knights as they look to repeat as OHL champions this year and avenge their Memorial Cup loss from 2023-24.