The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre in Toronto on Friday.

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Mitch Marner came through for Team Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game. The Toronto Maple Leafs winger produced two primary assists against Team USA, including setting up the overtime winner by Connor McDavid.

"It's special," Marner told reporters in Boston. "It means a lot. I mean, unfortunately, [the previous] times I've worn the Canadian jersey, we haven't had as great success as we did in this tournament. So, it feels good."

Team Canada lost in the quarterfinals at the 2016 World Juniors even though Marner scored twice in the elimination game. One year later, Marner was part of the Canadian squad that lost in a shootout in the gold medal game at the World Championship. Marner produced 12 points in 10 games, but was foiled on the final shootout attempt.

There's also been difficult defeats with the blue Maple Leaf on his chest over the years. Toronto has won just one playoff series in Marner's first eight NHL seasons. So, Thursday's win may impact Marner more than most of Team Canada's roster, which featured 15 Stanley Cup champions.

What can he take away from the final?

"Confidence," Marner said. "Belief also in a way. I'll try to take this the rest of the season and moving forward."

"Awesome moment for him and the team and for Canada," said Leafs centre John Tavares, who won gold at the 2014 Olympics and 2016 World Cup. "Certainly great for him to allow that to propel himself going forward, not just the play that he made, but just the whole participation in the tournament."

Marner's hockey IQ is elite as is his playmaking, but the 27-year-old has struggled to produce consistently in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Most recently, he mustered just one goal and two assists in last spring's seven game loss to the Bruins.

Marner has produced just two assists during his six winner-take-all games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Toronto lost all those games – five Game 7s and one Game 5 in the bubble playoffs – including three defeats in Boston. On Thursday, it was finally a different story for Marner inside TD Garden. He smiled as he lifted the championship trophy over his head while his parents, brother and wife looked on.

"Relief in a way," he said of what went through him. "A cool feeling."

The stakes felt sky high as best-on-best play returned in a politically-charged climate.

"Just great hockey," Tavares said. "That's as high as the level can go, really."

And Marner proved he could handle the heat. He set up Florida Panthers winger Sam Bennett for the game-tying goal in the second period on Thursday, which set the stage for his golden moment in overtime.

McDavid heaped praise on Marner for exploiting a weakness in Team USA's defensive-zone structure to create the opportunity.

"If they get crossed up that spot can be open," the Edmonton Oilers........

© TSN