Last night was Mitch Marner’s return to Scotiabank Arena as the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Vegas Golden Knights. We knew the fans were going to be emotional. I wrote about how the fans were in their right to boo Marner and give him the welcome he deserved. However, it was also a game that the Leafs desperately needed to win to keep themselves in the playoff hunt.
Unfortunately, Marner got the last laugh, as the Golden Knights beat the Leafs 6–3. The Leafs are now at a critical point and could legitimately miss the playoffs this season. Let’s take a look at the game, what it meant for the fans, and what it means for the Leafs going forward.
The emotional buildup
It’s no secret that the Leafs are bruised and battered. Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game against the Detroit Red Wings two nights ago after playing just 1:50. It was also reported that Brandon Carlo might have tweaked something as well.
The Leafs are already missing one of, if not their best defenceman, in Chris Tanev. Dakota Joshua remains sidelined. William Nylander is still out with an injury he received while celebrating his goal against the Golden Knights last Thursday.
Fortunately, both Ekman-Larsson and Carlo played. It wouldn’t surprise me if both were playing through injuries last night, similar to Matthew Knies. Knies has played the last several games with an undisclosed injury and noticeably doesn’t look like himself. Some other good news was that the Leafs were starting Anthony Stolarz, who hasn’t played a game since early November.
That’s just the last 48 hours, and this rollercoaster of emotions is still going up.
Marner’s return
The biggest headline was Marner’s return after playing nine seasons with the Leafs. This team has not shown up in the biggest moments. John Tavares’ return to Long Island is forever cemented in the memory of Leafs fans as an absolute atrocity. This injury-riddled team, playing against good teams, against playoff teams, night after night in the last few weeks, could have done something magical last night.
They could’ve got revenge for the 6–5 overtime loss against the Golden Knights a week ago. A game in which the Leafs had several multi-goal leads. Despite all odds, the Leafs could’ve won an emotional game for the fans who have supported the team throughout the decade of failures.
Instead, we got the usual disappointment in a big moment. To add insult to injury, the Golden Knights were playing the second half of a back–to–back. Rasmus Andersson also made his debut after being traded by the Calgary Flames.
Hello darkness, my old friend
Even in warmup, the boos rained down on the former Leafs superstar. Leafs fans showered Marner with boos during the pregame. After the anthems, Marner looked stressed as he took the opening face-off, not as the centre as he’s been transitioned to this year, but as a winger. It seems that to ease Marner’s nerves, head coach Bruce Cassidy decided to move Marner to the wing.
Whenever Marner touched the puck, the boos rained down, the loudest they have been in decades. However, the Leafs gave up the first goal on the Golden Knights’ first shot 66 seconds into the first period. The Leafs gave up the second goal just three and a half minutes later. Stolarz noticeably looked rusty as he was not able to control the rebound that led to the goal.
The Leafs battled back to make it a one-goal game in the second period. giving fans some hope. The Leafs were given their only power play of the game late in the third, a gift from the referees. Afterall, the Leafs’ power play has been hot as of late. But unfortunately, they couldn’t score. Unfortunately, the Golden Knights would score on a 2–on–1 shortly after killing the penalty to make it 5–3. Mark Stone would grab the empty netter.
As Leafs fans, we are used to this kind of performance in big games. Either the Leafs come out flat all game, such as the numerous Game 7s we’ve witnessed. Or they play a bad game, then wake up and come close to winning, but can never deliver.
It’s like how the dissonance or “tension” in music is created, but without ever changing to the pleasant chords or consonance to relieve that harmonic tension. The Leafs consistently create a build-up of emotions and create this sense of “they’re finally going to push through,” only to disappoint fans.
A turning point in the season
The Leafs did more than not spoil Marner’s return to Toronto. This was supposed to be a moment. As New York Islanders’ fans always say to John Tavares, “We don’t need you.” This was supposed to be the signal of a new direction that the team was supposedly headed in, and reaffirm that the last few weeks of play were their new identity. Moving on from Marner was supposed to be the end of an era.
Instead, it’s another reminder that this Leafs team falls short in the big moments. The only player who seemed to play with drive and urgency was Scott Laughton, scoring a beautiful breakaway goal to redeem his failed penalty shot attempt earlier in the week. It would’ve been nice for Captain Auston Matthews to tie the game late in the third period. It would’ve been nice for the longest tenured Leaf, Morgan Rielly, to score a goal.
While Marner did not record a point in his return to Toronto, as a fan, I have grown tired of trying to find these “silver linings” in otherwise disastrous moments.
I am tired of seeing other teams rise to the occasion, while the Leafs fall flat on their faces. I want to see the Leafs show emotion and win games for each other. The Golden Knights celebrated each goal like they won the Stanley Cup because they know how much this game means to their teammates, Marner and Andersson.
What now for the Maple Leafs?
The Leafs are now three points out of a playoff spot, with the gap widening by the day. Can they still make the playoffs? We will find out. As we’ve said so many times during this Leafs era, this could be a turning point.
Either the Leafs will rally and return to the way they played during the first few weeks of the New Year, or this game breaks them, and they miss the playoffs for the first time in 10 years. They play the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, and then the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The schedule rests for no one. Can we see this team beating both of them?
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