NHL: Vegas Golden Knights at Toronto Maple Leafs - Source: Imagn — Nikita Grebenkin's performance in loss to Panthers - Source: Imagn

Mitch Marner, Craig Berube make their feelings known about fan-favorite Nikita Grebenkin's performance in loss to Panthers

Modified Nov 29, 2024 13:07 GMT

The Toronto Maple Leafs fell 5-1 to the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Wednesday night, dropping to 13-7-2 on the season. One of the big storylines from the game was the performance of fan-favorite rookie Nikita Grebenkin.

Grebenkin saw 11:03 of ice time, registered 0 shots on goal, had a -1 plus/minus rating, and took two penalty minutes.

Mitch Marner, who netted the lone goal for the Leafs, weighed in on Grebenkin's play.

"He plays with a lot of energy every night, gets up in the forecheck, gets around the net. So, like I said, I think all the young guys have got great energy, we as a group just got to do a better job getting around nets and tipping pucks," Marner said.

Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube also commented on Grebenkin's performance.

"He was fine. I thought it was a tough call on him early on. I didn’t think it was a penalty. That happens. He is a physical player, so he is going to take penalties at times. I thought he competed hard and tried to do what he does as a player," Berube said.

"I put him on the power play for a bit, trying to get some net front and maybe get something around the net there. He was fine for me," the coach added.

Nikita Grebenkin's phrase “Backcheck, forecheck, paycheck” after his NHL debut made him a popular figure among fans.

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, and Mackie Samoskevich in the win. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves, while Anthony Stolarz stopped 19 shots in the losing effort for Toronto.

Mitch Marner on Leafs' 5-1 loss to the Panthers

The injury-riddled Maple Leafs suffered another blow in Wednesday's 5-1 loss to Florida, as forward Bobby McMann exited with a lower-body injury. He joins captain Austin Matthews, Max Domi, Matthew Knies, Max Pacioretty, Calle Jarnkrok and David Kampf on the injured reserve.

Mitch Marner acknowledged the difficulty of playing with so many regulars sidelined.

"We're missing half our team up front, man, it's tough," Marner said. "We got a lot of guys coming in, trying to jump up in some roles. They've done a great job. I think we've done a great job keeping pucks overnight, five on five, but tonight, like I said, we got to be up the ice more.”

The forward emphasized the need for the Leafs to improve their forecheck and net-front presence despite the injuries if they hope to get back in the win column.