Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner had some love for former teammate Auston Matthews after he became the Maple Leafs’ all-time leading scorer.
Attached at the hip for the better part of a decade, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were two peas in a pod. They played together pretty much since they started out, and it led to a lot of regular season success and truly created a dominant one-two punch that blazed through the league.
But with Marner leaving this season after moving on, it’s been Matthews as the sole focus as the leader of the offense, and while he’s struggled at times; recently he picked things up in a historic way.
Coming into this season, Matthews was sitting 20 goals away from breaking Mats Sundin’s record and thanks to a hot streak; he’s done just that.
Mitch Marner shows respect to Auston Matthews after breaking record
Taking to social media, Marner was short, but sweet in his words for Matthews:
Congrats brother!! Animal!
No doubt Marner had his fair share of assists on Matthews’ quest for 421 and it’s a great sign of sportsmanship and respect even if there may have been a little bit of turmoil in the locker room towards the end of his tenure.
Marner is now focused on his career in Vegas, and while he is doing much better in the standings than Matthews is, it’s such an incredibly tight divisional race that he could very well find himself out of a playoff spot if things go south and ruin his Christmas wishes.
He’s still doing solid with 40 points in 39 games, however it’s not like he’s exploded on offense like he did last season, and is on pace to have one of the lower goal totals of his career.
There may be some growing pains still, and there’s no doubt that both players’ struggles could be in part due to their separation.
Though it’s good to see there’s no hard feelings, at least when it comes to the captain and his former trusted sidekick.
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Mitch Marner has a special message for Auston Matthews after historic milestone
Do you think Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are the best duo in Maple Leafs history?