Player Discussion Mitch Marner, Yet Again

[kevsh]

Tonight gave Leaf fans some hopw that Matthews and Marner might be able to get something done this playoffs.

Not unless we trade for McDavid before the trade deadline.

But seriously, great for Mitch. He came up big twice in the tournament and deserves all the praise he's going to get for being instrumental in Canada's win.

No one can say today whether his performance (or AM's) will have any impact this spring - I'm doubtful - so I'm just going to be happy that Canada won and that one of our Maple Leafs players was a part of it.

 

[IPS]

You were quite fair tonight, good on you. Wasn't really directed at you anyways. Matthews showed up to, they leaned hard on him. Maybe these guys will show up, this can't hurt.

Indeed! Very high pressure environment tonight and it looks like they weren't overthinking anything at all, Marner was even getting better as the game went on. No reason they can't carry this over to the postseason.

 

[DarkKnight]

Good on Cooper too, he recognized that Marner was on and increased his ice time second half, put him with McDavid again. That first set up to Bennett was also a thing of beauty, drew two defenders and went against the grain with a spot on pass, very few can even see.

 

[Budz]

I thought he had some good moments, played well. He made some big time plays.

I hope he learned patience and not forcing things when things get tough.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[stickty111]

Great performance today by him and Auston. They have it in them. Lets see it in April

 

[LeafEgo]

Both those set ups were pure class.

No way Bennett gets set up any better than that on the turnover scramble, Mitchy worked the D hard at speed to open him up. OT he was two steps ahead getting to the corner and serving, McDavid was completely alone by the time he got the puck in the slot.

Hell of a f***ing game for Mitchy tonight.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

 

[leafsfan5]

What a game from this guy, completely controlled the pace from the start to the end. In big moments you sometimes see him panic but that wasn't in his game at all tonight

I'm hoping we sign Bennett this summer and pair Marner with him

 

[DarkKnight]

Both those set ups were pure class.

No way Bennett gets set up any better than that on the turnover scramble, Mitchy worked the D hard at speed to open him up. OT he was two steps ahead getting to the corner and serving, McDavid was completely alone by the time he got the puck.

Hell of a f***ing game for Mitchy tonight.

He knew to go along the wall right away, that's a coaches dream anticipation. Made for an easy around the boards, and their D was caught watching the puck. Then the pass was on a platter.

What I ilked tonight, so direct with his passes, quick and purposeful, very decisive with his plays. That's playoff play, making the most of tight space to open up ice.

 

[ULF_55]

Both those set ups were pure class.

No way Bennett gets set up any better than that on the turnover scramble, Mitchy worked the D hard at speed to open him up. OT he was two steps ahead getting to the corner and serving, McDavid was completely alone by the time he got the puck.

Hell of a f***ing game for Mitchy tonight.

McDavid completely uncovered ... whoops.

Anyway, Bennett is UFA.

Just saying.

 

[robertmac43]

He did it in TD Gardens. Hopefully that give him a boost!

 

[Mr_Fun]

Anyone who claims this was a glorified all star game either wasn't watching or is just full of shit.

Tonight gave Leaf fans some hopw that Matthews and Marner might be able to get something done this playoffs.

To be fair, I honestly thought before the tourney started that it would end up all star game quality; boy was I ever wrong.

 

[cyris]

He pulled a rabbit from a hat in a big game. He did it, he played a good game for sure.

It may end up earning him his 13m and ending my hopes of a cup in Toronto for 20 years but. We beat America in a cup like level game.

The overpay train has left the station.

Now that it's over I wish it were a best of 5 or something.

So it’s a bad thing that he was good?
When he doesn’t get points you criticize him. And when he gets the primary assists on the tying and winning goals you ……criticize him….

 

[Mr_Fun]

He knew to go along the wall right away, that's a coaches dream anticipation. Made for an easy around the boards, and their D was caught watching the puck. Then the pass was on a platter.

What I ilked tonight, so direct with his passes, quick and purposeful, very decisive with his plays. That's playoff play, making the most of tight space to open up ice.

That pass to Bennett was sublime. Just an amazing read of the play. Probably his greatest pass to date.

 

[keonsbitterness]

To be fair, I honestly thought before the tourney started that it would end up all star game quality; boy was I ever wrong.

We were deprived of EAST 32 WEST 30 or some other stupid format.

 

[Schennanigans]

gotta give Mitch credit. He stepped up huge in this tournament.

 

[SprDaVE]

It's just so funny that just a couple assists makes a world of difference for some people. I thought Marner made the same plays for most of the tournament, which was only 4 games anyway, but this time the chances he created went in.

He was good throughout and didn't deserve the insane amount of vitriol.

 

[LivingRentFree]

Both Marner and Matthews looked good tonight. Gotta love that as a leafs fan!

 

[Stephen]

You could see Mitch was feeling it when he was up high and made that feather soft deceptive pass to the slot for Cirelli or Hagel, who missed. The passes to Bennett and McDavid were perfectly timed. Didn't make a ton of plays out there but the ones he did were just devastating.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Love these overhead angles of his asstists.

 

[Divine]

Credit to Marner, he had a hell of a game.

He needs to shoot more though. You can go for setup after setup when you're playing on Team Canada, but when you're one of the best players on the team - you're not passing to McDavid you're passing to Kampf.

If he wants to take up all of the cap, he has to be able to score with the scraps our team is going to be left with.

 

[Kiwi]

Marner had a good tournament

He had an OT winner, he also played really well and helped his country win the final with a couple of excellent plays

He had moments where he struggled a bit but that's unsurprising when you're playing with guys you don't normally play with and minimal practice time

Hopefully this helps him kick on for the rest of the season and he can draw on this experience when things get tight in the playoffs

 

[killer1980]

Have to admit that MM did his country proud tonight. He somehow was able to do what he does best. Can't ever take away what he did tonight. He should be very proud.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Way to step it up in a huge moment Mitch, especially in Boston of all places.

Lets hope this experience benefits the Leafs come playoff time.