Marner takes step forward with memorable moments for Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

BOSTON -- It was a step. A significant one. A much-needed one. One that might take Mitch Marner to the next level.

That’s what the 4 Nations Face-Off did for the Toronto Maple Leafs forward, who admits his performance at key times for Canada has given him fuel to enter a new chapter in his career, one he hopes is a far more lucrative one.

“Confidence. Belief, also, in a way,” Marner said when asked after Canada’s dramatic 3-2 overtime win against the United States on Thursday what he’s gleaned thanks to his heroics in the tournament. “I'll try to take this the rest of the season and moving forward.”

He has reason to feel that way.

Entering the tournament, despite his consistently lofty regular season NHL stats, there had been questions about when and if he would ever produce a career signature moment when it really mattered, when the stakes were on the line, when his team was thirsting for one in a do-or-die situation.

Then, in the span of eight days, he authored two of them.

Consider those questions answered.

First came his overtime winner against Sweden that gave his Canadian side a 4-3 victory in its 4 Nations opener on Feb. 12, a goal that was assisted by Sidney Crosby, the player he’d grown up idolizing.

Then, on Thursday, at the most crucial time, with the event’s championship up for grabs, in the same TD Garden where he’d previously lost three Game 7s to the Boston Bruins with the Maple Leafs, with so many eyeballs from two nations glued to the action, he answered the bell with a perfect pass to teammate Connor McDavid, who ripped in the overtime winner against the U.S.

“That kid can make plays,” Canada coach Jon Cooper, a self-proclaimed Marner fan, said. “He just needed one chance to make a play, and he did.”

And with that, the Toronto-area native and childhood Maple Leafs fan, who’d been at times labeled as never coming through in the clutch, did exactly that.

Again.

"It felt good,” Marner admitted afterward in the champagne-soaked Canadian dressing room. “I can't lie. Yeah, I know it felt really good.”

It should.

He’d played against McDavid regularly when the two were in minor hockey in the Toronto area. They’d discussed prior to the tournament about now having the opportunity to be teammates for a change.

And when it mattered most, they delivered.

“I've competed against Connor McDavid a lot in my lifetime,” Marner said. “You know, obviously growing up the same age, we played in the OMHA (Ontario Minor Hockey Association) against each other, played in the GTHL (Greater Toronto Hockey League) against each other. We really never got to play with each other. And that's something that we talked about coming into this tournament. Then funny enough, that first practice, we're on the same line together. We're just kind of talking about how we want to kind of play and stuff like that.

“And yeah, it's a nice relief to be on his side now instead of against him for a lot of years. So, it's going to be a really cool moment to kind of look back on that and enjoy that with, you know, my family and with him.”

Especially when they talk about the moment they connected to end the tournament.

“'Mitchy' makes a great play. That's a great, great play,” McDavid said. “It's kind of the system, that box-and-one system. The centerman and the D-men can kind of go. So if they get crossed up, that spot can be open, and Mitchy did a great job of finding it.”

It was pointed out to Marner that some of Canada’s most decisive goals on the international stage have come via memorable dynamic duos. The tournament-winning goal of the 1987 Canada Cup for Canada against the Soviets came on a pass from Wayne Gretzky to Mario Lemieux. The "Golden Goal," which gave Canada the overtime win against the United States in the championship game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, featured a pass from Jarome Iginla to Sidney Crosby.

Now it’s Marner-to-McDavid. Does that have a nice ring to it, he was asked.

“It's pretty crazy,” he said. "You know, I'm fortunate enough to be on this team. Fortunate to play with some amazing players. And yeah, I just tried to find Connor in quiet space. And you know, he did the rest.”

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now he returns to life with the Maple Leafs, who host the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SN1, SNO, SNP, NHLN, FDSNSO).

In 630 games in Toronto, the 27-year-old has 710 points (210 goals, 500 assists) which ranks him sixth on the Maple Leafs all-time scoring list, just three behind George Armstrong. All the while, he’s eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1 and has likely driven up his price with his performance for Canada.

While he won’t have Crosby or McDavid to team up with in Toronto, he does have Auston Matthews, whose defensive lapse for the United States left McDavid wide open for the winning goal Thursday.

How much chemistry do the two have? Consider that Marner has assisted on 145 of Matthews’ 388 career goals.

“Like I spoke about before the tournament, it's always fun competing against him,” Marner said. “He's such a competitor, such a great player.

“I'm very fortunate to be on his line and play with him a lot.”

What the two have failed to accomplish together is sustained success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Maple Leafs have won just one postseason series with both in the lineup. The goal is to change that trend this spring.

When it comes to the narrative surrounding Marner, it already has.