Mitch Marner isnāt big. Heās not physical. Heās a wizard who has spent his whole life eluding and out-thinking and being better than the thugs and limpets and creeping vines in hockey who try, above all else, to pull skill down to a level they can understand.But skill isnāt everything in hockey, and so at the end of Torontoās 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series, Marner was staring down David Pastrnak 10 feet away, with the final seconds ticking off the clock. Marner already had a power-play assist, and was given penalty-killing duties this year because his brains allow him to compete there. As teammate Morgan Rielly said the other day, āHeās a great player, he can cause problems, heās very creative, he plays well with his teammates, (and) he plays defence, too. Thatās the best part about him is that he comes back and heās responsible.āPastrnak had to shoot, and Marner turned like he was in a gunfight. The first shot hit him in the shin as he turned into it, knocking him down. The puck bounced back to Pastrnak and he shot again, last chance, closer: Marner stuck out his left leg and blocked it again. Leafs 3, Bruins 2. A 2-1 series lead, and Marnerās teammates mobbed him at the horn.āIt was great,ā said Zach Hyman, Marnerās linemate. āIt shows the type of player he is: Heās got all the skill in the world and heās willing to eat one two feet away from Pastrnak. So great a player to have, fun playing with him.āāIdeally,ā Leafs coach Mike Babcock said, āall those things are contagious.āIt was a sharp demonstration of what happens when Toronto marries its skill to will and competitive determination, and it was a part of why they lead this series. It was the end of a game that bore almost no resemblance to Game 2, which hardly resembled Game 1. The officials reset the refereeing standard in g ...
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