Mitch Marner continues to prove his worth to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Fresh off being named to the roster of Team Canada for the upcoming 4 Nations tournament, the Leafs right winger dazzled in a 4-2 comeback victory against the Nashville Predators.
After two periods, the Toronto Maple Leafs trailed the Predators 1-0 in what was shaping up to be a rather lackluster midweek performance against an inferior opponent, which has plagued Toronto in recent years.
Marner wouldn't let it happen. After being reunited by head coach Craig Berube, he and sniper Auston Matthews played inspired hockey, with Marner picking up three third period assists.
Marner's play this season makes the chatter of the Leafs moving on from him look even more asinine than it did at first. His showing against Nashville was the exclamation point to his fast start to the season and should garner league-wide attention for the Hart Trophy.
Mitch Marner is the Toronto Maple Leafs MVP and deserves Hart Trophy consideration
Not long into the third period, Marner and Matthews turned the momentum in the Leafs favor versus the Preds. Marner's gorgeous pass set up the tying goal by the Leafs captain, his second since returning from his nine-game absence.
Then, Marner took over the game. First, he drew a penalty from the Predators' Steven Stamkos while the Leafs killed a penalty. Then, while playing 4-on-4, he pulled two Nashville players to him before unleashing a back pass to Matthews, who made a highlight-reel finish to put the Maple Leafs ahead 2-1.
Later, he drew a second penalty that led to a 5-on-3 advantage for Toronto. It resulted in William Nylander's 16th goal of the season after some Harlem Globetrotters-like puck movement from Marner and Matthew Knies.
Marner's three assists in the game resulted in his 14th multi-point game of the season, leading the NHL in that category. It also temporarily moved him into a tie for fourth in NHL scoring, trailing the leaders by only three points. (Stats courtesy of NHL.com).
More impressively, Marner now has multi-point games in 10 of the last 12 games. He is also posting an incredible 55% xGoals rating, while the Leafs are winning his minutes 18-11, which is 62% of the goals.
He now has 36 points in 25 games, a 1.44 points-per-game pace that projects to a 118-point pace over 82 games. All this while leading the Leafs in ice time. He is the only forward in the NHL to lead his team in minutes played (21:37 per game). Marner's two-way game (he is the Leafs best penalty-killing forward) has been instrumental to the team's success during Matthews' absence.
The goaltending of Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll has also been critical to the Toronto Maple Leafs rise to the top of the Atlantic Division. Nylander, John Tavares, and Chris Tanev have had key moments in the team's success, but Mitch Marner is the Maple Leafs early season MVP.
Marner bet on himself as he finishes the final year of his current contract leading to free agency next summer. It's a move that looks better with each passing day.