Bruins Appear to Have Avoided Disaster With Marchand

One night after clinching the fourth and final East Division playoff spot on Monday night, the Boston Bruins appear to have avoided a disastrous situation with their leading goal-scorer in Tuesday night’s rematch in Newark, New Jersey.

In the second period with the game tied 1-1 and Boston shorthanded, Brad Marchand was fore-checking in the New Jersey Devils end and tripped over the foot of Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and crashed hard into the boards.

In real-time, it looked scary. Marchand was down on the ice for a few seconds before getting up and skating back towards the Bruins’ end. Patrice Bergeron poked the puck towards Marchand at the New Jersey blueline, but Marchand was called offside as he appeared to have a breakaway.

There has been no one better for the Bruins this season than Marchand. Leading the Bruins with 27 goals and 36 points for 63 points. He also has a plus/minus of plus-25 through the second period Tuesday night.

Marchand is coming off an incredible April where he had a league-high 14 goals to help the Bruins finish the month tied with the Vegas Golden Knights with 11 victories. For the season, he has seven shorthanded points and five game-winning goals, including the game-winning penalty shot on Opening Night against the Devils on Jan. 14.

The Bruins are currently one point ahead of the New York Islanders in third place in the division, while three points back of the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins who are tied for first place.

Over the final four games after tonight’s game against the Devils, it will be interesting to see what coach Bruce Cassidy does with some of his veteran guys on his roster in terms of rest before the postseason.

Regardless of what Cassidy decides, it appears that the Bruins dodged an injury, for now, this late in the season to their best player in the 2021 season.