Mitch Marner responds to Maple Leaf fans, saves shout out for 1 single Leaf.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fan base had high expectations for their team coming into Friday night's game against the Vegas Golden Knights and unfortunately, as has often been the case for fans of the Maple Leafs, the team on the ice was unable to live up to those lofty expectations.

The return of Mitch Marner for the first time to Toronto would end with Marner and the Golden Knights celebrating their victory at Scotiabank Arena after largely dominating the Leafs over 60 minutes to take the game with a final score of 6-3.

Following the game's conclusion Marner would take the high road during his post game comments, showing tremendous class towards both the fans and one man within the Maple Leafs organization in particular. In spite of the fact that he could have used his platform to gloat, Marner's first priority during his post game comments was a special message for Leafs announcer Joe Bowen.

"I was trying to give a point there to Bownsy," said Marner during his post game comments. "Obviously he's meant a lot to Leafs Nation during his time. Just listening to his calls and being a part of his calls was a special feeling, what a legend. I tried to give him a quick hand up there, I don't know if he saw it or not."

It was a wonderful gesture on the part of Marner and showed his genuine respect for Bowen who is a beloved figure among Toronto area natives, which of course is a group that includes Marner himself. Marner also took a moment to recognize the cheers he received during his video tribute, admitting that he had been a little caught off guard by the love from the fans.

"It was cool, there was a lot of love definitely," said Marner. "I tried to acknowledge them as much as I can. I saw my mom up in the crowd that was real happy, it was cool to see all those signs. There's a lot of love here still and I appreciate these fans.

"The cheering when it was going off was pretty funny, I didn't see that one coming in a way," admitted Marner. "The booing when I had it was what I expected, just tried to play through it and play my game."

Classy comments from Marner, likely made all that much easier by the fact that his Golden Knights are now 2-0 against his former team this season.