Mitch Marner accepts his 'big mistake' that cost Maple Leafs a crucial goal against Panthers

The hockey world will have its eyes on Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

An elimination Game 6 against the Florida Panthers is all that's on the docket in the NHL, as Toronto has quickly seen its 2-0 series lead evaporate and now faces a potential era-ending night in Sunrise.

Wednesday night's 6-1 Game 5 loss was so bad that it felt like the series was over. Thankfully for the Maple Leafs, they still have one life left and will have to make the most of it on Friday night.

The team is looking to move past Game 5, though the media had more questions about what went wrong. Mitch Marner was asked specifically about his no-look backhand spin-o-rama pass that was intercepted and resulted directly in a Panthers goal to put the game out of reach. He opened up on the play on Friday.

Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun shared his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"Just trying to make a play, hit the far guy. And the 3-on-2 back, I was trying to cheat the pass up top and obviously made a big mistake. Make sure you clear the mind of that and know you can do better," Marner said.

Mitch Marner is a pending UFA in the final season of his six-year, $65,408,000 contract extension signed with the Maple Leafs in 2019.

Mitch Marner is doing his best to escape all of the noise

As has been throughout his Maple Leafs career, Mitch Marner is getting criticized and under the microscope for his playoff performance.

That's gotten especially loud following the embarrassing 6-1 loss at home in Game 5, and on Friday, Marner was asked how he handles all of the noise and pressure. Lance Hornby shared more of his comments on X.

"Hang out with my son and my dog. They have no idea what's happening in this world," Marner said.

The Toronto market certainly hasn't taken it easy on Mitch Marner, but his playoff production has been worthy of some flak. It should be interesting to see how much more he has to give or if one foot is already out the door with free agency looming.

Marner will look to silence all the doubters in Game 6 of the Maple Leafs' second-round series against the Panthers on Friday night in Florida. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.