Marner triumphant in return as listless Leafs lose to Vegas

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Mitch Marner got the last, and perhaps only, laugh on Friday night.

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In his first game at Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, Marner was booed throughout the evening and didn’t record a point against the Maple Leafs.

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The bottom line, though, was the Golden Knights were the better team for the most part and departed Toronto with a 6-3 victory.

The Leafs were listless to start and never fully recovered. In the third period, they had just five shots on goal and after failing to test goalie Adin Hill once during a late power play, Mark Stone scored an insurance goal for Vegas. Stone later scored an empty-net goal.

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The Leafs are 0-2-1 on their five-game home stand and welcome the NHL’s top team, the Colorado Avalanche, on Sunday afternoon.

Marner was booed when he had puck possession and cheered when he went to the bench at the end of shifts, yet the crowd’s cheers drowned out boos during a first-period Marner video tribute.

Marner had no real impact on the outcome, recording no points and registering one shot on goal.

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Stolarz returns

In his first game since Nov. 11, Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz had a shaky start and finished with 25 saves. Stolarz had been out as he recovered from an upper-body nerve issue.

Vegas held a 4-3 lead going into the third period after the Leafs were much better in the second than they were in the opening 20 minutes.

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Jack Eichel beat Stolarz on the Golden Knights’ first shot of the game at 1:06 of the first after Leafs defencemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson vacated the front of the net.

It was 2-0 at 4:31 when Keegan Kolesar scored following a large rebound off the blocker of Stolarz.

The Leafs played indifferent hockey through the first and were outshot 10-5.

After John Tavares got the Leafs on the board at 13 seconds of the second (featuring a career-high 30th assist by Matthew Knies), Pavel Dorofeyev scored at 3:32 to restore a two-goal lead. It became 4-1 at 5:16 when Braedan Bowman fired a shot over the left shoulder of Stolarz.

The Leafs then woke up. They found their legs and carried the play through the rest of the second and were rewarded with two goals.

Scott Laughton’s backhand on a breakaway squeaked past Hill and the puck slid over the line at 10:04.

Bobby McMann tipped a shot by Max Domi past Hill at 18:19, a goal that stood after it was reviewed for a possible high stick.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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