Darryl Sittler and Ed Olczyk will be cheering Mitch Marner on as he attempts to eclipse them and claim the longest point streak in Toronto Maple Leafs history.
Sittler, a Leafs legend who also holds the NHL record with 10 points in a game, predicted how Marner would tie the point streak during a win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night. "Mitch will have a good shot of getting it in overtime, or if the Leafs score, he'll probably get it in the empty net," Sittler told his son that night, according to The Athletic's Hailey Salvian.
"And that's the way it happened," the 72-year-old said. "Good for Mitch, I hope he keeps going and carries that record on as long as he can."
Marner buried an empty-netter to seal that victory and tie both Sittler and Olczyk by earning a point in his 18th consecutive game. The current Toronto forward has racked up seven goals and 17 assists over that span.
"I hope either (Auston) Matthews, (John) Tavares, or (Mark) Giordano are saying to Mitch like, 'Hey, knock those old guys off the mantle here, let’s go.'" said Olczyk, a longtime broadcaster who's now working at TNT. "I've always had a soft spot in my heart for all No. 16s in Toronto because that's the number I wore.
"I'll be watching and living every shift with him and hoping he can accomplish something that I tried to do."
Sittler set the record in 1978, and Olczyk tied it 12 years later. Marner entered Saturday night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning leading Toronto in assists (21) and points (29). Eleven of those points were secondary assists and he's tied for the third-most of the latter in the NHL, but he's scored all eight of his goals at even strength.
Marner is shouldering a heavy workload this season. The winger came into Saturday's tilt ranking eighth in the league in average ice time among forwards with 21:28. He leads his team in ATOI among forwards, averaging over a minute more than Matthews.
