The Toronto Maple Leafs are not in the playoffs, but that doesn't stop that team coming to the front of mind during a very important matchup. Namely, when it's one of their former stars who are still playing hockey in May.
On the ESPN broadcast of the Vegas Golden Knights and Utah Mammoth facing off for Game 6, Mitch Marner was asked a question that made every single Leafs fan start to yell at their screens simulatneously.
With the Golden Knights having a 3-2 series lead, and therefore an opportunity to win Game 6 and win the series to move on to the second round and face the Anaheim Ducks in the conference semi-final, Marner was asked about, well, closing out a series and performing in big games.
It is almost comical considering what Leafs fans have had to endure.
Mitch Marner of all people being asked how to close out a playoff series lmao pic.twitter.com/7fOTvAXecF
— thomas (@sludgewilliams) May 2, 2026
Marner gave the most boring answer possible and it's simply because he has never been the kind of player to put his team on his back to power through the end of a playoff series in the NHL.
"Don't overthink it, just play our game," Marner said. "I like the way we've played the last couple. Keep being aggressive. Keep being up in their faces -- not giving up time and space. They're a skilled group, so. I've liked how we started and we just got to keep going."
Okay man, whatever you say.
Marner's terrible history in big playoff games has haunted Maple Leafs fans
Maybe he has the experience of winning the Memorial Cup with the London Knights to take this experience from, because we all know just how much of a no-show Marner was in the moments he was needed the most in Toronto.
Besides from being now notorious for taking extremely stupid puck over glass penalties in the playoffs, as he faces the tiniest bit of pressure and succumbs to it, Marner has also never really appeared on the score sheet in these must-win games.
In Game 7 against the Florida Panthers last year, Marner had zero points and was a minus-2. Even in the series-winning Game 6 against the Senators earlier in that run, he had one single assist, two shots on goal, and was a net neutral on the ice. A fairly pedestrian performance when he was needed to put the game away -- instead it was William Nylander scoring two goals and Max Pacioretty of all people earning two points.
In the Game 7 loss to the Bruins in 2024, he had zero points and was a minus-1. In the series-winning Game 6 against the Lightning in 2023, he earned zero points and had three shots on goal -- a great help, Mitch. And even later, as the Leafs got destroyed by the Panthers in five games, in all four losses Marner tallied a total of one single assist and was a minus-3. Terrible stuff.
Even dating back to 2021 in the miserable Game 7 loss to the Canadiens, it was zero points from Marner. The embarrassing Game 5 and series loss to the Blue Jackets the year prior, zero points (okay, the Maple Leafs did get shut out so it wasn't necessarily just his fault).
There has never been a series-winning opportunity where Marner has earned more than one single point and put in a meaningful performance. Not a one.
So when he's asked about what to do in moments like these, he has no clue what to do and Maple Leafs fans know all too well about what he truly does under the spotlight.
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