Toronto Maple Leafs: How Does Mitch Marner’s Streak Compare?
Darryl Sittler’s streak started with a goal in the January 26th, 1978 road game with the New York Islanders and concluded on March 9th, 1978 in Montreal, when they became the first team in 18 games to hold him pointless.
Indeed, it took Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden to eventually keep him off the scoresheet that night at the Montreal Forum.
Sittler’s streak was punctuated by three-point nights versus the Atlanta Flames, Cleveland Barons, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks, with his run made up of more multi-point nights than single ones (per Hockey Reference).
He ended the 18-game span with 17 goals and 16 assists totalling 33 points, which ultimately made up just over a quarter of his points total for the 1977-78 season.
It’s really not at all surprising that Sittler finished that season as the league’s third-highest point scorer on 117 points with the streak only serving to boost his statistics.
Only Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens) with 132 points and Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) with 123 points bettered his total, with the Toronto Maple Leafs center making the Second All-Star team in recognition of his efforts.
What is rather surprising is that during the span of his 18-game point streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs themselves weren’t exactly on a winning streak themselves, with a couple of 3-game and a single 4-game run their best efforts.
That season, Sittler was sharing the ice with fellow future Hall of Famers Lanny McDonald and the recently departed Borje Salming, who Sittler clearly held in the highest regard.
Indeed what else should be noted that this wasn’t quite yet the free-wheeling 1980s, with the league-average team goals sitting at 264 that season; a far cry from the 1981-82 league-average of 321.
Unfortunately for the Toronto Maple Leafs, although Sittler notched 11 points in 13 games as they made it to the Stanley Cup semi-finals, he wasn’t able to drag them past the eventual Cup winners that year, the Montreal Canadiens.
Other achievements in Daryl Sittler’s career, namely his 10-point night achieved two years earlier, for the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately overshadowed the fact that he jointly-held this point-streak crown for so long.
It’s not at all surprising for those that are long-time fans of the team that Daryl Sittler was one of the holders and in all fairness, we expect he would be one of the first to congratulate Mitch Marner if he breaks it this weekend in Tampa.
Eleven seasons removed from Daryl Sittler setting the point-streak record, Eddie Olczyk managed to match it in the 1989-90 campaign.
Olczyk’s streak began with an assist during a 7-4 loss to the Calgary Flames on December 2nd, 1989, ending on January 10th, 1990 with the New York Islanders keeping him off the scoresheet at Maple Leaf Gardens that night.
He didn’t quite stack as high of a point total as Sittler during his 18-game span, tallying 10 goals and 18 assists, including a hat-trick against the Montreal Canadiens, for a total of 28 points during his streak.
Given that this season and the one prior were ultimately the pinnacle of his career in terms of his season point totals, it shouldn’t be at all surprising that there was a decent streak involved. In fact, his 28 points represented just shy of one-third of his points for the whole 1989-90 season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs team that season was to that point the most offensively potent Toronto Maple Leafs team in franchise history with 337 goals and featured three further 30-goal scorers (Gary Leeman, Vincent Damphousse and Daniel Marois) in addition to Eddie Olczyk.
But this in an era that was a lot higher-scoring with the league-average team goals sitting well up there at 295 goals and the Toronto Maple Leafs themselves averaging 4.21 goals per game.
However, much like the season of Daryl Sittler’s streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs ultimately bowed out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in just five games to the St. Louis Blues.
Certainly, Eddie Olczyk isn’t held in the same regard among Leafs fans as Sittler and by the time he’s done, I doubt he’s in the same category as Mitch Marner either.
This isn’t to belittle the fact that he jointly holds this record for a point-scoring streak right now either. Fewer fans are as likely to bemoan Marner passing Olczyk than they are of Sittler, such are their respective standings among Leafs Nation.
Mitch Marner’s streak has built on the back of a remarkable 25 games to start the season that has seen him held off the scoresheet just twice.
There’s a very satisfying symmetry to the fact that his 18-game point streak commenced on the road in San Jose and it was the same San Jose Sharks that he matched Olczyk and Sittler against.
While people might argue that accomplishing such a record with an empty-net goal almost feels too easy, you only need look at the fact he hit the post moments earlier to realize that even empty nets aren’t guarantees.
Unlike Sittler and Olczyk, a lot of Marner’s games have been single-point affairs, with just 6 two-point games making up his streak. In fact, his point total in those 18 games is the lowest of the current record-holding trio with just 24 points.
Mitch Marner of course was somewhat unlucky not to tally a first 100-point season last campaign and this year seems on-track to potentially miss that mark once more – he currently is tracking for 95 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs know exactly what they’re getting with Mitch Marner, regardless of his individual accomplishments though.
He is consistently out making smart defensive plays, getting into passing lanes and simply proving an effective player without the puck.
With the puck, he’s great fun to watch as he makes plays and passes that don’t seem quite possible at times, though his propensity to try these does lead to the odd giveaway, but with that said he does seem to raise the games of those around him.
Auston Matthews seems to have suffered a slight production dip since being split from Mitch Marner, while John Tavares has upped his slightly now he has him on his wing.
Perhaps the most satisfying statistic to see in his point-streak is that he lifts his game to the opponent; some of those two-point nights have been against the likes of the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights and Pittsburgh Penguins, none of which are exactly pushovers.
It’s safe to say that the Toronto Maple Leafs as a team have turned their form around during the span of his point streak and at least some of that credit lies with Mitch Marner.
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If he indeed takes sole possession of the longest point-scoring streak in Toronto Maple Leafs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone that suggests it’s undeserved.