Mitch Marner’s hat trick spoils McLellan’s debut in Detroit

Maybe the coach wasn’t the issue.

Turns out, Todd McLellan can watch Mitch Marner put on a show against the Detroit Red Wings as well as any man in a suit.

And much like the home team’s season, by the time Friday’s game was a third of the way through, it already felt over.

On the strength of Marner’s second-career natural hat trick — both of which have occurred in Little Caesars Arena, home of Detroit’s dark age — the Toronto Maple Leafs returned from Christmas break and immediately jumped back into the win column, routing the Red Wings 5-2.

Marner’s 18 goals in 27 games versus Detroit marks the most he’s celebrated against any NHL opponent, and the winger’s fourth three-point night thrusts him into a tie with Connor McDavid for sixth-overall in the scoring race (49 points).

So what if Auston Matthews isn’t available on nights like this?

With Marner picking up the slack and driving Toronto’s offence, the Leafs improved to 8-4 in their captain’s absence.

Marner has multi-point efforts in all eight of those Matthews-free wins, and 10 of Marner’s 13 goals this season have come when his main triggerman doesn’t dress.

“His hockey sense is world-class,” John Tavares told reporters. “Whether Auston’s in or he’s not, what Mitchy provides for us and how he plays is unbelievable, and we’re really lucky to have him.”

“They’ve got some real special players over there, four or five of them,” Patrick Kane said. “And it seems like they’re playing a more disciplined game, too.”

That discipline translated into clean breakouts and some sustained O-zone stretches that led to Marner’s two one-timed goals and nifty, well-timed tip home.

Of Marner’s three goals, though, Tavares’s blind, between-the-legs, cross-crease, backhand pass was the prettiest of the bunch.

“He can do a lot of things,” Marner said. “That’s a great play by him there.”

Catch is, this was intended to be a prove-it showcase for the Wings to McLellan.

“There’s always some kind of response when something like that happens,” Morgan Rielly had predicted pre-game.

“The players want to impress the coach, for sure,” Toronto coach Craig Berube added. “It’s kind of a new lease on hockey life.”

In Detroit, sadly, the new lease carries about the same interest as the old one.

Steve Yzerman will ring his six-year anniversary as GM this spring.

Since the Hall of Famer player took the helm, the Red Wings have never won more games than they’ve lost in a single season. The splendid Little Caesars barn has never hosted a playoff game. Now, Yzerman’s bunch is stepping backwards from 2023-24’s encouraging 91-point campaign.

Firing Derek Lalonde (89-86-23) on Boxing Day and replacing him with McLellan, Yzerman is on his third and most expensive head coach. (Ousted midseason last winter, McLellan had been sitting at home getting paid $5.5 million to not coach the L.A. Kings.)

“Everyone’s frustrated,” Yzerman said. “You can see it in the players’ faces.”

You can also see it in the executive’s body language and feel it in his rambling responses during Friday’s 31-minute press conference. He’s grasping for answers and now clutching to the belief that his roster is more talented than it has shown under Lalonde.

So, Yzerman — previously rumoured to be interested in Jim Montgomery — turned to a coach he’s known since 2005. McLellan was on Mike Babcock’s bench during Yzerman’s final playing season and was one of the most experienced options available.

“You start to sense the frustration, the will being zapped from everyone,” Yzerman said. “It felt like this is the time it needs to be done.”

In light of Auston Matthews’ continued absence, Rielly and Tavares both spoke of the need for improved checking and stronger starts — aspects of the Leafs’ game that had slipped while losing their last two games before Christmas.

“The energy should be back,” Berube said.

Indeed, it was.

McLellan’s debut wasn’t two-and-half minutes old, and the Maple Leafs had already scored and had the new coach experiencing life as a Red Wing, trying to play catchup.

“The team can play harder,” McLellan said. “It just can.”

Marner’s hat trick created too much distance, and a pair of late Red Wings strikes, from Lucas Raymond and Simon Edvinsson, only dented the lead.

The Maple Leafs head home to face a healthy Alex Ovechkin and the rested and ready Washington Capitals in a much stiffer test Saturday night.

Fox’s Fast Five

• Despite benefitting from the three-day break, Matthews will miss his fourth consecutive (and 13th overall) game Saturday versus Washington as he manages his undisclosed upper-body injury.

“He’s doing better,” Berube assures. “I can’t give you any more than that, to be honest with you.”

One must imagine the notion of placing the captain on LTIR before the playoffs (à la Mark Stone or Nikita Kucherov) and maximizing cap flexibility and trade options is at least being contemplated behind closed doors.

• A hard-fought game by the Maple Leafs’ defence corps.

Chris Tanev (back in action after missing Dec. 23’s loss to Winnipeg), Rielly, Simon Benoit, and Jake McCabe (whose tooth fragments needed retrieving from his mouthguard) all pushed through some painful shot blocks.

The Leafs out-blocked Detroit 17-9, and they’ll be feeling it.

• Max Pacioretty was honest about the value of getting three full days away from the hockey rink. The condensed pre-Christmas schedule took a toll on his 36-year-old muscles — and the NHL product in general.

“Definitely needed it. That schedule got hectic for our group, and it definitely showed in our game,” Pacioretty said. “It was nice to relax and spend time with the family.

“It was obvious that every team needed a little bit of a rest there…. We’d been playing a lot of hockey.”

• Rielly has skated at least 85 five-on-five minutes with three different partners this season and at least 20 minutes with seven partners.

He won’t complain, but finding pairing consistency is a recurring theme.

“I like to think I can take on as much responsibility as I’m given,” Rielly said. “And I expect myself to be able to handle any situation.”

• David Kämpf celebrated his 500th career NHL game with his first goal of the season.