- Marner leads the 2026 playoffs with 21 points (7G, 14A) in 16 games as Vegas opens the Cup Final Tuesday in Raleigh
- Forward told NHL.com the spotlight in Vegas is no lighter than Toronto — “things are just working”
- Read below for the full quote, the video of his between-the-legs goal, and the Bruce Cassidy take
Mitch Marner finally has the playoff run people in Toronto kept saying he couldn’t have.
Asked why everything has clicked with the Golden Knights ahead of Tuesday’s Cup Final opener, Marner kept the answer plain in a 1-on-1 with NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger.
“I think things are just working. There’s nothing different. There’s nothing different about how I’m getting ready for games, how I’m getting myself prepared to play a hockey game, so everything’s really the same.”
The 29-year-old leads the entire NHL postseason with 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 16 games and is plus-12, tops on the team. He’s the runaway Conn Smythe favorite as Vegas opens the best-of-seven against Carolina at Lenovo Center.
Marner pushed back on the popular theory that Toronto’s spotlight was the issue. To him, the heat is the same in any rink.
“I actually think the pressure (in Toronto) is the same as here. I know everyone’s been saying all that stuff. But in the end, the most pressure you have is the pressure you put on yourself as a player.”
The real difference is the room around him. There’s no Core Four in Vegas. There are 12 guys on the Knights’ roster who already won a Cup in 2023, and Marner doesn’t have to be the man every night.
Bruce Cassidy, replaced behind the bench by John Tortorella on March 29, made the same point on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast last week.
“If he’s not producing for a couple of games, it’s not the end of the world in Vegas, where in Toronto it’d probably get scrutinized a lot more.”
Marner’s most viral moment of the run was the between-the-legs breakaway he buried 1:02 into Game 6 against Anaheim. Watch every angle of it:
GM Kelly McCrimmon signed and traded for Marner on July 1, 2025, locking him up at eight years and $96 million ($12 million AAV). Eleven months later, his guy is the Conn Smythe favorite four wins from a Cup.
The Cup Final is set:
Puck drops Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The Hart vs. Andersen goalie duel will get plenty of ink, but if the Marner line keeps generating, Vegas is going to be hard to slow down.
