Mitch Marner gives an in-depth insight into his assist to Connor McDavid's game-winning goal in Canada vs USA 4 Nations final

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Feb 23, 2025 18:22 GMT

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Mitch Marner explained his assist on Connor McDavid’s overtime goal in Canada’s 3-2 win over the U.S. in the 4 Nations Face-Off final. On Saturday, speaking with a Sportsnet panel, including Kevin Bieksa and Jennifer Botterill, Marner described how the play developed at TD Garden in Boston.

Marner said Canada planned a high play right after the face-off.

"All right, let's try to remember all that's been a long week," Marner said. "Well, first off, the face off, we're trying to kind of run like a high kind of play. McDavid kind of got through on the face off, kind of got a shot off to the far side. I kind of just snuck away to the far corner. We were kind of just talking about trying to sneak away from their defense, find quiet areas around the ice."

Mitch Marner moved to an open area, knowing Cale Makar had limited passing options. He saw Makar look at him before getting the puck and positioned himself for an easy pass.

"I knew Cale didn't have many options here," Marner said. "I did see kind of we went out eye on eye with each other there before he got the puck and trying to just get myself in a spot that he can get it too easily. He rimmed it around."

Makar rimmed the puck around the boards, and Marner used his feet to stop it cleanly. Explaining his play with the skates, Marner said:

"And then, second (using feet)... I thought it'd be easier just put my feet against the wall. I mean, I work on a lot of stuff throughout summer time and throughout my life, picking up pucks on the wall with my feet. And use my feet a lot to my abilities. And I thought it'd be easy to pick it up from my skates to my stick in kind of all one smooth motion, without having to turn my back to see what's in front of me."

After receiving the puck, Mitch Marner looked up and saw McDavid in the slot. He made a quick move and passed the puck to him.

"And the third one (pass to McDavid), I just tried to kind of make a jab step quickly," Marner said. "I knew Connor was around the slot area when I when I looked up, got the puck and try to find him in scoring a chance, and lucky enough, he did the rest with it."

McDavid finished the play by scoring past Connor Hellebuyck to win the game. USA players were only the bystanders as the Makar-Marner-McDavid trio stole the game away.

Mitch Marner balanced his offensive slump with top-notch playmaking

Mitch Marner had three points in four games at the 4 Nations Face-Off. He recorded two assists in the final and had a +2 rating. His only goal came against Sweden in the round-robin stage, where he scored the game-winner.

Marner went scoreless against Finland and the U.S. in the earlier games. He averaged 17:20 of ice time per game, recording merely three shots on goal in the tournament.