Brad Marchand is off to a hot start in the 2021-2022 season

Over the last few years, Brad Marchand has been key to the Boston Bruins‘ success.

The veteran forward has evolved into a force offensively on one of the best lines in hockey. While the Bruins lost on Wednesday night, Marchand stayed red hot. The 33-year-old has had an excellent start to the 2021-2022 campaign and picked up where he left off last season.

Through the Bruins first two games this year, Marchand has three goals. While the former third-round pick has yet to record an assist, he is the only Bruins player with more than one goal. In the first week of the regular season, Marchand has provided a reminder of the impact he can make.

Additionally, the Halifax native has already attempted seven shots. He has not been afraid of going to the net and been a spark on the ice. On Wednesday night, he landed his first hit of the season while leading Bruins forwards in ice time. He is also being aggressive in the offensive zone and has shot the puck 42.9 % of the time this year.

While it is a small sample size, Marchand is coming off one of the best seasons of his career.  In a shortened 2020-2021 campaign, he recorded 69 points in 53 games. He should easily surpass those numbers with a full schedule and only needs 26 more goals to tie his total from last year. While the Bruins have been outscored 7-6 so far this season, Marchand has been in vintage form.

As the Bruins hope to rebound from Wednesday’s loss, Marchand will be looking to keep up his impressive start. He has created scoring opportunities every time he’s on the ice and has attempted the third-most shots on the team behind Craig Smith and  David Pastrnak. Through the first week of the season, Marchand is averaging 19:59 ice time per game and has one takeaway.

After waiting four days between their first two games of the season, Boston’s next game will come on Friday against Buffalo. The Sabres have won their first three games of the season and outscored opponents 12-4 in that span. They will, however, have to deal with a red-hot Brad Marchand, who is showing why he is one of the league’s best.