It wasn’t circled on the calendar the way that January 23 will be, when Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights visit Toronto for the first time since Marner’s departure, but the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ first game against their longtime winger tipped in Vegas’ favour.

From an objective standpoint, it was a great game. The Leafs got off to an early 2-0 lead, and from there, it was a back-and-forth affair all night that featured a disallowed goal and a last-minute one for Vegas to tie it with seven seconds left. While there’s much anticipation surrounding Marner’s reception when he skates at Scotiabank Arena as a visitor for the first time, I can’t imagine anybody expected him to hear the boo birds in his own barn, but that’s what happened.

While this game is not going to do any favours for the ‘see? Marner was never the problem!’ narrative, the Leafs once again looked like they ran out of gas. It can’t be used as too much of an excuse, especially considering Vegas played the night before, but it also can’t be overlooked as a factor. The Leafs had lots of jump early on and were playing with a ton of inspiration, but every time they scored a goal, Vegas eventually had an answer. They were clearly playing with just as much inspiration to get a win for their new teammate, and in the end, they were the ones to secure the two points.

The Maple Leafs will wrap up their road trip on Saturday night in Winnipeg, and if they win, they’ll have collected five of eight points on their road trip, which isn’t ideal but also isn’t the end of the world. Nevertheless, next Friday’s game is the one that the Leafs’ fanbase will have circled on the calendar, and if they can split the season series and spoil Marner’s return to Toronto, missing out on the extra point tonight will be easily forgiven.

Introducing Off The Roster—Toronto Sports, Unfiltered! Toronto sports fans, your new favourite conversation has arrived. Hosted by Cabbie Richards, Lindsay Dunn, and Dan Riccio, Off The Roster dives into the city’s legendary plays, brutal trades, OG jerseys, celebrity tweets, and everything in between. Raw, fun, and totally unfiltered, this is Toronto sports like you’ve never heard it before. Tune in live every weekday morning on the Nation Network YouTube channel, or catch episodes wherever you stream podcasts. Proudly brought to you by our founding partner, PROLINE. Off The Roster—the new sound in the 6ix.