Mitch Marner’s Hat Trick Spoiling McLellan Debut for Red Wings

The Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner delivered an incredible performance Wednesday night, — and as of this writing, the game isn’t over — notching a hat trick in a commanding 5-0 lead against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena. This marks Marner’s second career hat trick at the venue, making him the first visiting player to achieve the feat twice in Detroit’s new home.

Can he add to his total on Friday night? He’s got 20 more minutes to do so.

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The Leafs dominated from the start, jumping to a 5-0 lead after two periods and leaving little room for the Red Wings to recover. Marner’s third goal came on a beautiful redirect, sealing his hat trick in the first 40 minutes. The Leafs’ Nick Robertson scored almost immediately after, with 1.3 seconds left in the middle frame.

Marner also had a goal and a beauty pass from John Tavares to put the Leafs up 2-0.

Marner Stepping Up Without Auston Matthews

Marner’s stellar performance is happening with Auston Matthews sidelined. It was learned earlier in the morning that Matthews wouldn’t be cleared for Friday’s action and would like to miss Saturday as well. Remarkably, Marner has tallied multiple points in eight of the Leafs’ 12 games without Matthews in the lineup this season. He’s taking the leadership role and becoming the kind of superstar the Maple Leafs will have to pay up to keep.

Tough Debut for McLellan With the Red Wings

For the Red Wings, it has been a tough debut for new head coach Todd McLellan. Before the game, new coach Todd McLellan said, “Usually, the team spirit is pretty low, that’s why these things happen. So we got to build that back up.” This game won’t help.

The Leafs likely have this game in hand. Meanwhile, Detroit’s early struggles under McLellan mean this could be a longer path to success than the team, and GM Steve Yzerman might have hoped.

Next: Yzerman Talks Red Wings’ Coaching Change, Challenges Media