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Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was lucky to avoid a suspension for his reckless, dangerous, and most of all unnecessary slewfoot of Detroit Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall. The Bruins know it, and perhaps most telling, Marchand, who was fined $10,000 instead, knows it.
But the 28-year-old agitator-turned-sniper made up for it in the best way possible, by kickstarting the Black and Gold’s comeback over the Penguins Thursday night at TD Garden.
With the Bruins down by two after 20 minutes of play, and very close to being down by three with the Penguins back on the power play, it was Marchand that stormed down the Pens end and beat Matt Murray for his third shorthanded goal of the season and 20th goal in total. He then scored the club’s second goal of the night to tie the game, provided an agitating presence in between then and the B’s fourth goal, which came with Marchand battling away in front of the Pittsburgh net and taking Ian Cole out of the play to allow Patrice Bergeron to score the game-winning power-play marker.
Marchand was then out there for two late-game kills by the Bruins, and even cause a bad pass from Phil Kessel to end what would have likely been the Pens’ best chance at tying the game in the third.
It was the perfect makeup date for Marchand and the Bruins.
“I think he needed to respond that way. I think it was important for him to respond that way, you know, I’m going to be honest with you – we’re lucky that we didn’t lose him tonight,… Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “Obviously he played a big part in our win and I’m not – you know, I respect the league and I respect their decisions sometimes and, but he’s been in trouble before and I’m sure that wasn’t an easy decision. So, I’m going to stand here and say we’re lucky we had him [Thursday].…
What Marchand means to the Bruins is really tough to put into words at times. The Bruins have their leadership core with Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Backes, and David Krejci, and they have their all-world talents in players like Tuukka Rask and David Pastrnak. But Marchand is the heartbeat of this team, and when he goes, the Bruins go. As was the case in 2011, and as was the case Thursday night.
Dealing with Marchand, for both the Bruins and the opposition, can at times become a distraction, too.
“No, you know the league is going to do what they do, we are going to do what we do,… Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Marchand playing. “We are going to focus on our team and try to make sure we come into the games with the right mindset to give ourselves the best chance to win.…
A three-zone monster that finished Thursday with a forward-leading 23:35 of time on ice, including over nine minutes of special teams minutes, Marchand was happy to put the incident behind him.
“It was good to kind of let it go and kind of put it behind me,… Marchand, who is a repeat offender, admitted. “You know, you can’t change anything after it all goes down, so it was great to come out here and play the game, have some fun and be part of a big win, so it was a good night.…
Ty Anderson is the Boston Bruins beat writer for WEEI.com, and has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010. He can be heard on the Saturday Skate program on 93.7 WEEI (Boston), can also be found in the New England Hockey Journal magazine, and has been part of the Boston Chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Contact him on Twitter or send him an email at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.