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Marner addresses boos from Leafs fans in Vegas: ‘They got a passionate fan base’

Originally posted on TheLeafsnation | By Dylan Nazareth | Last updated Jan 16, 2026 8:00 AM ET

It was a back-and-forth affair on Thursday night in Vegas as Mitch Marner faced off against the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time. In the end, the scales tipped in favour of the Golden Knights, who came away with a 6-5 overtime win.

After the game, Marner spoke with TSN’s Mark Masters about what it was like going up against his former team.

“As soon as the puck drops, you kind of just get into game mode,” he said. “Maybe during warm-ups, it was just a little weird looking over. But other than that, once the puck started flying around out there, it felt like another hockey game out there.”

Marner and Auston Matthews were the last two players out during warm-up Thursday, and as they exited the ice, Marner fired a puck over in Matthews’ direction.

here we go pic.twitter.com/cFAHlOSPc0

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 16, 2026

Asked before the game about that moment, Matthews was pretty direct in saying he’d “had enough of the Mitch questions for the day.” After the game, Marner gave his own thoughts on taking on his former captain.

“I did it at the 4 Nations, it’s obviously always a challenge,” Marner said. “He’s a great player, does so many great things on the ice. Not just offensively, but defensively as well. Cutting down plays and making it hard to get offence off of him. So yeah, a really close friend of mine … really feels like family to me.”

More than just his old teammates, Marner came face-to-face with his old fanbase for the first time on Thursday. Despite being in Vegas, boos could be heard at T-Mobile Arena when Marner touched the puck, from Toronto fans in the crowd.