Mitch Marner makes his thoughts clear on Auston Matthews' 'lack of energy' call out for Maple Leafs fans

Mitch Marner knows everything that comes while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The spotlight can be extremely tough yet rewarding when the team succeeds. The fanbase is passionate to the core, which can lead to noise for the players.

Not often do you hear a player criticizing the Toronto fanbase, yet that's what captain Auston Matthews did last week. The Maple Leafs superstar called out the crowd for its "lack of energy" following Ryan Reaves' first fight of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was a spirited bout to begin the game that Toronto lost 5–1 at Scotiabank Arena.

On Tuesday, when TSN asked Mitch Marner, the other Leafs superstar, about Matthews' comments regarding the crowd noise on Jan. 22, he said:

"We were all really fired up, I think we wanted to feel that energy from the crowd. I think we felt it a little bit, but I think we just wanted to keep it going throughout the period and maybe it just dropped off a bit."

Marner seems to agree with the sentiment Matthews expressed, but not as upfront in his remarks.

Marner is facing difficulty as a pending UFA in the final season of his six-year, $65,407,998 contract with the Maple Leafs. He remains unsigned, and his future with the team is uncertain.

Mitch Marner is seeking his first career 100-point season

Surprisingly, Mitch Marner has never recorded 100 points in a season. However, the superstar winger has come extremely close to the milestone having recorded 99, 97 and 94 points in previous campaigns.

Merner is poised to break finally through that mark this year having amassed 68 points (15 goals, 53 assists) in just 50 games so far. Should he remain healthy, he's on a full-season pace of 112 points.

With Auston Matthews having missed 15 games due to injury, Marner has stepped up for the Maple Leafs. He's been the team MVP through 50 games and is a huge reason they sit in first place in the Atlantic division with a 30-18-2 record and 62 points.

Marner and the Maple Leafs are back in action on Wednesday at home against the Minnesota Wild. The puck drops at 7 p.m. EST at Scotiabank Arena.