Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner delivered in the biggest moment of his career, scoring the overtime winning goal against Team Sweden on Wednesday night.
Team Canada got out to an early 3-1 lead, but some bad defenisve play led to Team Sweden tying the game, ultimately pushing it to overtime. The NHL could learn from the Four Nations Face-Off's overtime rules, as this tournament is using a 10 minute 3-on-3 format, versus a traditional 5-minute period.
After a long shift, Sidney Crosby found Mitch Marner streaking into the zone, and Marner took it home from there, snapping a wrist-shot into the back-left corner of the net. After multiple chances, Marner was the one who eventually ended the game, resulting in the biggest goal he's probably ever scored.
If you are Team Eye Test, or Team Analytics, I feel like you would have seen Marner's game from two totally differently perspectives on Wednesday night. Before Marner had scored that overtime goal, I thought his game was weak and it felt like he was once again failing on the biggest stage, and yet with or without the goal, he has some of the best stats on the team, being one of the only Team Canada forwards to have positive puck-possession and positive a expected-goals rating.
It felt like he was floating around and couldn't find space, but obviously that wasn't the case, even if he doesn't look as flashy as Crosby, MacKinnon or McDavid.
Marner's Biggest Goal Shouldn't Result in Contract Extension
However, if you look at the analytics and break down Marner's game, he was one of the team's best forwards. He was only behind McDavid in TOI for forwards, and was third on the team in Corsi. Marner was also second on the team in SCF%, which represents how many scoring chances he was on the ice for, versus how many the opponent had against him.
Essentially, Marner was on the ice for way more scoring chances than he allowed, although he only registered one point in the game.
So after essentially leading the team in those categories, why would I still want to walk away from him? Well, as much as analytics are important in hockey, I do still believe that your eye-test is just as important. The new-age hockey analysts will not agree with me, but that's how I see it.
Marner scored the overtime goal, but the only reason he did was because of Crosby. He does not have a lethal wrist-shot, so in my opinion, that goal itself was a little lucky. I don't think Team Sweden's goalie saw it coming, and I don't think that type of goal from him is sustainable moving forward.
If you're going to pay a player $12-14M per year for the next eight years, I want to see them dominante the ice and be incredible on the biggest stage. As shown in the game again against Sweden, Crosby, MacKinnon and Crosby are elite and worth every penny. Thier Corsi may not have been as good as Marner's, but their impact was and any fan can see that.
Marner is very good, don't get me wrong, but he looked like a boy amongst men on the biggest stage, which is how he always looks in the playoffs. Marner's skill will help you win, but he can't take over a game like McDavid, MacKinnon or Crosby and for that reason, I'm out.