Mitch Marner already has more elimination game goals with Vegas than in nine years as a Maple Leaf

As the Vegas Golden Knights came into the first round, they expected a pretty easy series against the Utah Mammoth. However they ran into a buzzsaw that won't go away as the Mammoth surprisingly were holding their own despite being down 3-2 in the series.

T'was not meant to be though as Vegas cruised to a 5-1 victory and moved on to the Western Conference semifinals. But it was who the Golden Knights were reliant on which is making headlines — and Maple Leafs fans a bit peeved.

Mitch Marner, a player who has always been heavily criticized for his lack of playoff production, came in with a vengeance on Friday night and pretty much singlehandedly led Vegas to a win.

A three-point night with two goals, it was something we hadn't seen from Marner before and it proved that he actually can come through when it matters. Because in Toronto? It was anything but:

Marner doubled his Game 5-7 production in one fell swoop by scoring twice as opposed to only doing so a singular time in 26 games played for Toronto. It rubs a bit of salt in the wound knowing that Marner was capable of this the whole time, and their reaction says it all:

While Marner himself wasn't facing elimination, he was under a lot of pressure to seal the deal and finally stamp his name as a top playoff performer and may have done it within 60 minutes.

That put Marner's playoff total to seven points in six games, a plus-5 rating, and three points on the power-play. It's only the fourth time in his career that he's hit above four points in the postseason, and is on pace to beat his career high of 14 points in 11 games.

Whatever your opinion on Marner, there is no doubt he genuinely made the team better. He's a bonafide two-way star, elevates those around him, and is kind of a pest when he wants to be (for better or worse). Losing him is a detriment, and the fact they traded the guy acquired for him less than a year later is the icing on the cake.

Was Marner unable to come up clutch in Toronto? Yes, the evidence is there. But you can't solely point to him as the only reason they failed.

Marner had 63 points in 70 playoff games and to put that into perspective — this is how the rest performed:

- Auston Matthews (59 points in 68 games, plus-2)
- John Tavares (31 points in 51 games, minus-15)
- William Nylander (58 points in 67 games, minus-2)
- Morgan Rielly (47 points in 70 games, plus-12)

Marner had a 0.9 point-per-game rate in the playoffs which actually was the highest of the Core Four. It was never just Marner and when he has proper support look what he can do.

It was partially the fault of Mitch Marner that the Maple Leafs didn't do more in nearly a decade but he isn't the sole reason and right now Toronto has to live with the fact they pushed their best playoff performer out of town.

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