Leafs bench boss blown away by the work ethic and vision of one of his primary penalty killers
One of the biggest changes in Mitch Marner's game this year has been his defensive prowess and penalty killing and in today's Next Gen game against the Philadelphia Flyers, he put on a show while shorthanded.
It first started with his shorthanded break-away after the Flyers turned the puck over after initially winning the face-off. He was sprung with a great outlet pass before being stopped by Carter Hart. Then with the Flyers up 2 men in a very critical juncture of the game, trailing by 2, Marner made easy work as he killed precious time and didn't allow the Flyers to muster up any momentum.
The huge penalty kill gave the Leafs the momentum swing they needed to take a 4-1 lead, which eventually served as the game winning goal after a flurry by the Flyers at the end. Head coach, Sheldon Keefe, was blown away, amazed, and everything in between in relation to his star-forward's prowess on the penalty kill.
"It's next-level stuff. Not many guys are processing the game in that manner in terms of timing and space."
Not only was he able to kill time on the 5-on-3, he also wasted precious time on the Flyers 6-on-4 opportunity when Timothy Liljegren was sent to the box with 1:10 remaining. The frustrated Flyers were called for a roughing minor with 45 seconds left, washing away their power play, and eventually falling short in their comeback.
All that wouldn't have happened if Marner didn't have the vision and the prowess to waste time and keep possession of the puck. Also doesn't hurt when you score a goal and an assist to the cause either.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 22 | 598 ANSWERS Leafs bench boss blown away by the work ethic and vision of one of his primary penalty killers Does Mitch Marner deserve Selke Trophy consideration? | ||
| Absolutely | 563 | 94.1 % |
| Not necessarily | 35 | 5.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
