SUNRISE, Fla. — Brad Marchand arrived in the collective consciousness of the North American hockey-watching public a dozen years ago. In the Stanley Cup playoffs, he was an impactful player, notching 11-8-19 totals in 25 games. But it was in the highly contentious Final against the Vancouver Canucks that he really made a name for himself, most notably with a post-whistle speed-bagging of Daniel Sedin’s head.
This is a much different Brad Marchand we are seeing today.
In the absence of captain Patrice Bergeron in this playoff series against the Florida Panthers, and in Game 3 David Krejci as well, Marchand has led not only with his play on the ice but also his restraint against a team that is attempting get him off his game with physicality.
“I think he’s taken it upon himself, without Patrice being here, to be our mature leader, the guy who is leading us. And he’s doing a great job,” coach Jim Montgomery said. “I think he’s dragging people into the fight between whistles, and that’s what we’ve asked. We’ve asked him to be really hard between whistles. And we don’t want stuff after the whistles. And he’s led that way, which is showing great leadership in my opinion.”
A great example of that was at the start of the series. The B’s came out flying in the first few shifts and Florida’s rugged defenseman Radko Gudas absolutely mugged Marchand on one shift. He got away with it, but Marchand did not let frustration get to him. Eventually, the Panthers were tagged with two early penalties, the second of which gave the B’s the early lead which they never relinquished.
Restraint is not something that comes naturally to Marchand in those situations, but he knows now it must be practiced.
“Playoff time and the regular season are just different animals and when everything is on the line and you’re playing at this level, one penalty, one bad play after the whistle can cost you the game or series. It just means more,” Marchand said. “You’ve got to stay away from that stuff. It’s different from the regular season where you’re not as worried about it and it’s good to give a shot back now and then at guys. When the stakes are higher, you have to be more prepared to do those things. We’re doing that. We’re best as a group when we just play. We haven’t gotten caught up in that all year.”
Marchand admitted that not having Bergeron and Krejci playing adds to the mental workload, though he knows it’s not a burden that’s solely on his shoulders.
“It does a little bit. I definitely feel a little more pressure from the leadership standpoint. When they’re around, I definitely feel more comfortable just being in my role,” Marchand said. “They’re big holes that you’re not going to fill, but it definitely falls on the rest of us to step into that role at some point to try and take over and lead a little bit more by example and take over the room. But it helps (to have) other guys like (Nick Foligno), who’s been a captain before. Chuckie McAvoy is trying to take that next step to be a good leader and to have an impact on that D corps. And you do that by committee. That’s why you see guys like (Charlie) Coyle step up and (David Pastrnak) had a big night and (Taylor) Hall had a big night. So when you do it by committee it makes it easier to fill that void.”
Helping in his leadership role is the fact that, from a pure hockey standpoint, Marchand is starting to look more like his old self. He’d been quite honest during the regular season about feeling he was not as far along as he’d hoped to be in regaining his game after offseason hip surgery, and his numbers tailed off dramatically down the stretch. He went 16 games without goal and, within that skid, he had a seven-game pointless streak.
But he’s a got a point in every game in this series, two goals and an assist.
“I am (feeling better), which I kind of knew would happen come playoff time. There’s a different mentality that guys have come playoff time. You’re able to run on that adrenaline and the belief in what we’re building,” Marchand said. “It’s good to get back and feel like that again. Maybe that comes with waiting for this to come a little bit. The season kind of dragged on a little bit at the end. We had kind of locked up everything and we were just playing for records at that point. So, yeah, playoff time just kind of brings a whole different beast out of guys, a different drive.”
Indeed, Marchand has been a different beast this postseason.
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Linus Ullmark had appeared to labor a few times getting up in this series. He suffered a lower body injury in the second to last game of the season and was termed a “game-time decision” prior to Game 3. Any thoughts of going with Jeremy Swayman for Sunday’s Game 4?
“There are thoughts of going with Jeremy,” Montgomery said. “One because Jeremy’s excellent and, two, after (Sunday’s) game there are two days off before the next one, between Games 4 and 5. So yeah, the (players) gone to the rink and when they get back I’ll huddle with (goalie coach Bob Essensa) and he’ll let me know.”
That being said, Montgomery didn’t think Ullmark’s work load on Friday (12 shots in the first two periods) was too heavy.
“We thought Linus had a good game. We didn’t think he was overly taxed as far as the amount of time we spent in our own end, which is when goalies work,” Montgomery said.
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Montgomery thought it was important not just that Pastrnak scored on Friday, but how he scored.
“That’s a goalscorer’s goal,” said Montgomery. “Now he’s going to start smelling blood. He’s like a Great White.”
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Bergeron remained back home in Boston to be treated by specialists and Montgomery said he’s continuing to skate and tracking toward a Game 5 return. He’s also stayed in touch, even texting with assistant coach Chris Kelly on some Xs and Os during Game 3.
“You could tell that he was pretty pumped up with the way he was playing, which is first and foremost that came out,” Montgomery said. “And I think he just feels helpless. It’s like the first time you retire and become a coach. You don’t have any impact on the ice, so how do you help? He’s got an incredibly bright mind. The stuff that he shared whether it was neutral zone or O-zone or D-zone, it was pointed.”
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Montgomery termed Krejci, who had a wrap on his arm, as questionable for Game 4.
