Boston Bruins: Brad Marchand passes twenty goal mark.
Brad Marchand came up big for the Boston Bruins on Saturday. With just fourteen seconds left in regulation, the Bruins forward tipped a Dougie Hamilton shot past Steve Mason to tie the game at two. Boston’s ‘Little Ball of Hate’ put in the game winner in overtime to help the Bruins edge past the Flyers 3-2. With today’s comfortable win against the Detroit Red Wings, the B’s now have a four point lead against the Florida Panthers.
Live Feed
Puck Prose
“I think everyone wants to be in that situation. It’s one I’ve always wanted to be in,” said Marchand of his performance against the Flyers. “I’ve always enjoyed the emotion of being out there in the last minute of a game or the last couple minutes down by a goal. I think a lot of guys tend to thrive in that situation and I prefer to be out there.”
“I like that challenge and I think any guy in the NHL enjoys that. I think that’s why we’re here, we’re all very competitive. So I’m definitely happy they have the confidence to put me out there.”
Those two tallies against the Flyers were Brad Marchand’s twentieth and twenty-first goals of the season. (His short-handed goal against the Red Wings gave him his twenty-second.) Marchand is now the first Bruin on the team to eclipse the twenty goal barrier. This is Marchand’s fourth season scoring at least twenty goals for Boston (only the lockout-shortened 2013 season kept Marchand from tallying twenty goals that year).
The key to Marchand’s performance has been in his maturity. Marchand has grown up these last few years in the NHL. He’s dropped a lot of the uglier habits that were part of his play in his first few seasons. He’s brought a more refined and professional style to his play. Being teamed up with Patrice Bergeron has obviously paid off for him on and off the ice certainly helped that. (Then again Bergeron has a tendency to make everyone who plays with him better.)
More from Bruins News
- Bruins release Prospects Challenge roster, schedule Tuesday
- Bruins bringing back familiar forward on tryout contract
- The Bruins should take a look at these four free agents
- NHL Network lists Ullmark as sixth-best goalie in the league
- The Lasting Legacy of David Krejci
Marchand has certainly made an impact on the B’s recent acquisitions. Bruins forward Max Talbot earned his first point as a Bruin with his assist on Marchand’s game winner. “Marchy showed a lot of character, and I think as a team we did also to get the tying goal,” said Talbot, who picked up his first point as a Bruin with the assist on the OT goal. “In overtime Claude [Julien] sent me on the ice with Bergy and Marchy, and Marchy just supported me very well, and he made a great play on the goal.”
“That’s an important two points for us at this point in the season.”
Now it’s up to Marchand and the rest of the Bruins to keep pace with teams like Florida and the recently surging Ottawa Senators. A four point lead isn’t much comfort with fifteen games left to play in the season.