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How Marchand got his groove back

January 3, 2014, 11:04 PM ET [6 Comments]
Ty Anderson
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • RSSArchiveCONTACT
In the waning moments of a tied game, Brad Marchand’s attempt to carry the puck into the Nashville zone was cut short with a huge hit from the Preds’ captain, 6-foot-4 Shea Weber.

Absolutely smashed in the mouth by the perennial Norris nominee, the Bruins’ undersized winger didn’t look for a call or take a retaliatory penalty, instead opting to get up and back into the play. “I was a little shaken up. I got a stick in the mouth, and [it] hurt my back a bit,” Marchand said of the hit. “He’s a big boy and you’re bound to get hit every now and again, but that’s alright.”

It was alright because Marchand would have the last laugh, undressing Mike Fisher and beating Marek Mazanec in overtime, good enough for his 10th goal of the season.

And those moments have been at a premium for the 25-year-old in 2013-14. Hampered by rotten luck, antics headlined by his boneheaded invisible Cup lift in Vancouver, and inconsistencies, Marchand isn't one to dwell on his early season misfortunes.

“Earlier in the year that probably would have been a turnover and a goal the other way,” a grinning Marchand admitted of his overtime move. “It’s a little bit of luck there, getting that through, and that’s just how it goes sometimes.”

For Marchand, who finally has 10 goals on the year 4-in-27 start to the year, it seems as if the proverbial turnaround is on the way. Not that he was ever ‘bad’, really.

Since his unforgettable run of 11 goals and 19 points during the 2011 postseason (25 games), the expectations of the 5-foot-9 winger have been on the rise. And more often than not, No. 63 has delivered. He followed a 21-goal rookie season up with 28 goals in 2011-12, and was arguably the most productive B’s skater in last year’s lockout-shortened season that saw Marchand pot 18 goals and 36 points in just 45 games.

“When he’s skating he makes things happen, and I thought he skated well. When he uses that outside speed he makes things happen a lot more, and as you can see in a lot of games he has that ability to cut from the outside to the inside pretty good,” B’s coach Claude Julien said after Thursday’s win. “But it was one of those things that if it hits Fisher’s skates it’s a different ballgame.”

So much of Marchand’s speedy game is based off the bounces, something Julien, who’s never one to shy from critiquing Marchand when he sees fit, certainly alluded do with that end quote. Some bounces go Marchand’s way, and others don’t. The latter has undoubtedly haunted his goal-scoring game at various points (though for the most part through the first two months) this season.

But with six goals in his last 10 games played, the bounces are there, and they’ve come just when the Black-and-Gold have needed them the most. But is it a coincidence that Marchand’s return to form with linemate Loui Eriksson done (once again) with a concussion? I’m really not sure.

Since Eriksson’s concussion suffered during the Bruins’ gongshow with the Pittsburgh Penguins back on Dec. 7, the Bruins have rolled out a second line of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and Reilly Smith. And while much of the focus has been on the rise of Smith, whose 14 goals are tops among all Bruins through 41 games, it seems as if the switch is working out for Marchand, too.

That’s something that may very well come back to Marchand’s role on this line.

On the first version of the Boston second line -- the one with Eriksson -- the Swedish winger found a (new) skill-set by going to the front of the net. Eriksson, brought in to be the B’s sniper to make Tyler Seguin a mere afterthought, could score goals off his body. Lots of ‘em, too. This really seemed to take Marchand out of his comfort zone of a year ago. But now, with Smith becoming a bona fide scoring threat, Marchand’s been able to return to the grimy areas of the rink where he’s become a major weapon to Boston: At the front of the net and between the circles.

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The chart above shows where Marchand’s shots (and goals) have come from. The picture on the left is from last year, where Marchand was literally red hot between the circles. This year, with Eriksson taking his place in front of the net, Marchand looked like a man without a set plan in the attacking zone, as you’ll rarely see a line with as much two-way responsibility as the Bergeron ‘send the house’ to the front of the net. That much is evident by his 2013-14 shot chart, pictured to the right.

Now, whether it’s because of Eriksson’s injury or due to more space coming Marchand’s way because of Smith’s emergence, a return to familiar territory has brought about the Nova Scotia native’s scoring touch, even if last night’s goals didn’t necessarily come from Marchand’s wheelhouse.

“I think once we started driving the net a little more, and you saw Krejc [David Krejci] do it a couple of times, on Iggy’s goal, that’s more of our team,” Marchand said on Thursday, adding, “We’ve got to get back to doing that a little bit more; it’ll give us a few more opportunities.”

There’s little doubt that Marchand’s made the most of his sans Eriksson opportunity -- scoring six goals on 26 shots (a shooting percentage just north of 23%) and with most of his shots coming from down low once again (see: his two-goal night against Buffalo) -- but the skill-set of Smith has certainly seemed to gel a bit more with Marchand’s game than that of Eriksson. To the naked eye, anyway.

“It’s nice having a group where we’re comfortable with each other, and we get to know each other a little bit,” Marchand said, adding, “We’re making plays and scoring a few goals so it’s nice.”

But Marchand’s been here before, and knows that he can’t get too comfortable, even if he’s finally and officially paced for another 20-goal season with the B’s (with hardly any time on the Bruins' power-play in 2013-14, no less).

“I think I’ve just got to keep going,” he said last night. “Every game you want to try to build a little more confidence and try to keep improving, and that’s all I do.”
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