Mitch Marner had a game for the ages on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks. The former Maple Leafs player notched a hat trick and added an assist in a 6-2 victory, taking a 2-1 series lead for his Vegas Golden Knights.
The performance was easily Marner’s best game of his postseason career. It’s an apparent sign proving all the naysayers wrong. And yes, on the surface, that would appear to be the case. Marner seems to be finally hitting his stride, achieving that potential that Leafs fans always knew was there.
But for all of the seeming success that Marner has attained in Vegas, it should come with a grain of salt.
Marner is now playing in the Western Conference, which has an objectively weaker playing field. A cursory look at the standings proves this point. The Ducks claimed third place in the Pacific Division with 92 points.
In the Eastern Conference, the Ducks would have missed the playoffs. Heck, the Golden Knights, who won the Pacific with 95 points, wouldn’t have made it either. The Ottawa Senators, who landed the second wild card in the East and were bounced by the Carolina Hurricanes in four, got 99 points.
That’s the underlying factor propping up Marner’s seeming playoff breakout. It’s not that Marner is somehow better this postseason. It’s that he’s playing against a weaker playoff opponent.
Think about it. All those years that the Maple Leafs got bounced in the first round, they played teams considered more experienced than the Leafs.
Marner’s first playoffs were against the prime Washington Capitals. The Leafs lost to the Caps team that would win the Stanley Cup the next season. Then, it was two years of Game 7s against the Bruins.
2020 and 2021 were the best chances the Leafs had to advance, yet they lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens in the bubble playoffs.
After that, it was the Lightning, Panthers, Bruins, and the Panthers again. These were battle-tested teams that were nothing like the Utah Mammoth and Ducks. Imagine if that Maple Leafs team in, say, 2022, had played a rebuilding club like the Ducks in the first round instead of the Lightning?
In fact, the Leafs played a team sort of in that vein last year. They managed to bounce the upstart Ottawa Senators in six. They ran into the defending Stanley Cup champs and got the heave-ho.
If Marner can torch a real Stanley Cup contender like the Colorado Avalanche, then he’ll settle all doubts. But that doesn’t seem like it’ll be the case. I could be wrong, but there’s nothing to suggest that Marner will stand out against a deep team like Colorado.
So, Marner had better enjoy his success while it lasts. But it seems that the clock could strike midnight if and when the Golden Knights run into the Avalanche.
Add us as a preferred source on Google