Former Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner was met with a mixed reaction during his return to Toronto Friday night.<\/p>\n
The Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> forward was booed loudly as he stepped onto the ice to take his opening lap in pre-game warmups and then again when he first touched the puck on his opening shift. But the winger received cheers from the fans in Toronto after a tribute video played on the jumbotron during a break in play in the opening period.<\/p>\n Marner played 17:24 of ice time throughout the game and finished with one shot attempt in the 6-3 Golden Knights victory.<\/p>\n Marner got a taste of his potential reception last week when the Leafs played the Golden Knights in Vegas, hearing some boos from Leafs fans in his own building. <\/p>\n \u201cMaybe in a way, but not really,\u201d the 28-year-old told reporters earlier Friday<\/a> when asked if it would be tough hearing boos from fans of his former club. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to probably try to do their thing to get me off my game and try to win … I\u2019ve got a lot of great players around me here to help me out. I\u2019ve been through a couple of things like this before.\u201d<\/p>\n He also said he\u2019s trying to look at Friday night as just another game.<\/p>\n \u201cJust, it\u2019s another hockey game, realistically,\u201d Marner said. \u201cIt\u2019s another hockey game to just go out there and play and try to do what you usually do to help win a hockey game.\u201d<\/p>\n Marner was drafted fourth overall by his hometown Leafs in 2015 and went on to play nine seasons in Toronto, tallying 741 regular-season points along the way. He currently sits sixth on the franchise\u2019s all-time points list.<\/p>\n But Marner\u2019s tenure in Toronto did not translate to postseason success for the Maple Leafs. Things did not end well last spring when the Leafs were blown out 6-1 by the eventual Stanley Cup-winning Florida Panthers<\/a> in Game 7 of the second round.<\/p>\n