Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella isn't hearing the noise surrounding Mitch Marner. After Vegas took a 2-1 series lead over Anaheim on Friday, the head coach silenced critics questioning Marner's mental toughness.

“I think (Marner) is very confident in what he brings," Tortorella said.

“People give him (grief) all the time about playoffs, and this and that, and I don’t think it bothers him a lick. He just plays. He’s a hockey player, and I’m glad he’s doing some things for us.”

Tortorella, who replaced Bruce Cassidy as Vegas head coach in March, is one of the NHL’s longest-serving coaches to date. Ever since Marner arrived, his bond with coach Tortorella has been anything but a positive one, where the coach has always supported Marner and helped him ignore the outside voice.

This is Marner’s first postseason campaign with the Golden Knights after joining the franchise from the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the 2025-2026 season.

The player faced a lot of scrutiny, often over his performances, saying that he was underperforming for a long while, dating back to his time in Toronto. Expectations were always held heavily on him throughout his career with the Maple Leafs.

Meanwhile, Tortorella previously managed the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Philadelphia Flyers before moving on to Vegas.

Since his appointment in late March, Vegas has remained one of the strongest performing teams in the league in the postseason. And the result of his coaching was only further lifted by Marner's performance on Friday.

Mitch Marner’s performance driving Vegas’ win

The Vegas Golden Knights made a 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3, taking a 2-1 lead. And Mitch Marner played a major role in that win, recording the first playoff hat trick of his NHL career.

Vegas took control early in the game and continued the same energy for the next two periods before Anaheim responded with the same.

The 29-year-old scored a natural hat trick in the first two periods, and with his third goal, his fans celebrated by throwing hats into the ice at the arena.

"It's always nice to try and contribute in a couple games but, at the end of the day, you just want to win games," Marner said. "Tonight, a lot of great plays by a lot of people around me to set me up in a spot I could succeed in."

Marner joined the Golden Knights ahead of the 2025-2026 season after spending the first nine years of his career in the NHL with the Toronto Maple Leafs.  He stayed with the Maple Leafs for a long time as one of the leading offensive players.

Now, in this current postseason, Marner stands strong as one of the most productive players in Vegas, recording six goals in his last four playoff games.

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Written by

Aadhya Nalla

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason