Later, Marner shared embraces with fellow relocated superstars, Eichel and Mark Stone, a couple of guys who know what it’s like to face the team you left.
“They knew it was a special one for me tonight. They knew it meant a little more than a usual hockey game,” Marner said. “Pretty fired up.”
Everyone was, particularly the vocal contingent of fans decked out in Blue and White.
Leafs Nation invaded the Fortress and mercilessly booed Marner every time his blade touched the puck. Marner blocked a deadline trade (a per his right) and turned down what would’ve been the richest contract extension in franchise history before moving to the desert.
Marner wasn’t quite sure what to expect, facing his former team twice in nine nights. Now, after getting booed in his own barn, he knows to brace for vitriol at Scotiabank Arena next week.
“They always travel well, especially to Vegas,” Marner said. “I think the great question was what my expectations were (for Jan. 23), but now I think I kinda know going in. They got a passionate fan base. They got a lot of love for their team.”
Eichel was a fan target in his return to Buffalo in 2022. He gets it.
“We know how much it means to him,” Eichel said of Thursday’s win. “And because it means that much to him, it means that much to us too.”
The Golden Knights needed to flex their resilience to win for Marner — who chipped in a pair of assists and ran point on a man-advantage that struck twice at 5-on-4 and tied the game at 6-on-5 with just seven seconds left in regulation.
The rested Maple Leafs had jumped to 2-0 lead by the five-minute mark and held leads of 3-1 and 4-2 before the home side rallied with vengeance in Period 3.
“Kept letting them hang around,” John Tavares said. “A very high-potent offensive team, and maybe we could’ve checked a little bit better, little tighter.”
“I thought we played a good game,” Auston Matthews added. “Just kind of let it slip away, and that’s obviously the frustrating part.”
A big, fat blown opportunity by Toronto, to secure an extra point and a sliver of revenge for their loyal fans.
What was it like going head-to-head with a teammate of nine years?
Interesting, then, that the Knights took an opposite tact.
They leaned into Marner’s uncomfortable reunion as rallying point and found their legs late, despite playing their second game in 48 hours and having Pavel Dorofeyev’s apparent game-tying hat-trick goal stricken off the board due to a successful offside challenge.
“Let’s call it what it is,” said Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy, pointing to Marner’s moment as a motivator for his players. “As the stakes go up, they get more competitive.
“They don’t like losing.”
Craig Berube lamented the small details that prevented the Leafs from getting the last laugh here: a late odd-man rush against, rookie Easton Cowan’s unnecessary high-sticking penalty, Matthew Knies breaking a stick trying to defend 6-on-5, another William Nylander injury…
“It’s frustrating to lose this game tonight. I mean, we got off to a great start. I thought we played really well tonight for the most part,” Berube said. “We just got to be smarter in certain situations. That’s what it boils down to.”
For Marner, it boils down to hearing the boos and still coming out a victor — something he was unable to do in his last game as a Maple Leaf.
“We stay in the fight regardless of the score of the game or the time in the game. Obviously, they knew this one meant a little more to me. So, grateful to get the win,” Marner said.
“You always want to try to beat your buddies.”
• In just his fourth game since returning from a lower-body injury that had sidelined him for two weeks, Nylander’s night ended in the first period because he aggravated the same injury.
There was no immediate timeline given for his return.
Perhaps Nylander hurt himself stumbling in celebration of his silky goal:
“He’s obviously battling and doing everything he can to stay healthy and playing,” Rielly said.
Nylander put up two points and a plus-2 rating in two minutes and 17 seconds of work.
Defenceman Simon Benoit (upper body) was a surprise scratch as he had been a full participant in Thursday’s morning skate but got injured in that practice. He should be good to play in Winnipeg Saturday.
• With Nylander injured, Tavares made good on his emergency return to Toronto’s top power-play unit. The centre executed a nifty tip in tight off a Matias Maccelli shot to register his first power-play goal in 32 games.
• At the end of warmups, Marner lightly shot a puck toward the feet of Matthews before the ex-teammates left the ice.
“Everyone saw that one, eh? I thought I was sneaky,” Marner said. “Me and him have gone through a lot together. He’s a great friend of mine. He’s a guy I can talk to about anything. Just a little fun there to poke some fun at him.”
Matthews had no interest in discussing what it was like to prep for the match across from his longtime warmup buddy.
“I didn’t look over. Yeah, I think I’ve had enough of the Mitch questions for today,” Matthews said during his pre-game interview on the Toronto broadcast.
• Nicolas Roy received a warm standing ovation and a nice video tribute upon returning to the city where he’d spent six seasons and hoisted the Stanley Cup.
“It feels weird to be back, being in this locker room, but really excited,” the 28-year-old centre said. “I had so many good memories here. Just looking around the building, seeing some familiar faces, really exciting.”
• With William Karlsson injured long-term, Vegas is now deploying Marner at centre — a position he never played in his nine years a Leaf.
“I mean, he can kind of do it all,” Matthews said. “He played on the back end for us at times and stuff like that. There’s not really any doubt in my mind that he can succeed in that position as well.”
Faceoffs have been a struggle, though.
Marner came into Thursday with a 38.6 per cent success rate in the dot, then went 3-for-10 against the best faceoff team in the league.
Berube said the Leafs did consider deploying Marner in the middle last season when Matthews was dealing with his back injury.
“There was always a conversation with him, and he had no issue with it. He was all ready for it,” Berube explained. “What I did was say, ‘Just practise taking draws every day, just in case we do make that switch for a bit.’”
