BOSTON — Brad Marchand nearly assisted on a Steven Stamkos goal in the first period tonight.
Luckily for the rookie, Andrew Ference chased down the speedster to take a crosschecking penalty and prevent a goal. The ensuing penalty kill kept the Bruins within a 1-0 deficit.
Marchand’s miscues were plentiful through the opening 20 minutes, so head coach Claude Julien made sure to settle down his rambunctious forward.
“Sometimes when things don’t go his way, he has a tendency to get a little frustrated,” the coach said after the game. “The minute I saw that in the first period, I had a talk with him to settle down, stay positive and things would work out. I really feel that that goal helped him settle down and he was a better player afterwards.”
That pep talk paid off in what turned into a 3-1 Bruins win in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final. The Bruins are now one win away from the Stanley Cup Final.
By late in the second period, Marchand was back in the form that earned him 21 goals in the regular season and five goals through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
His goal with 4:04 left in the second stanza was his first of the conference final.
“It’s been a frustrating series. It’s been a battle every night,” said Marchand, who in Boston’s Game 4 loss failed to land a shot on net. “[Zdeno Chara] made a great play down to [Patrice Bergeron] there and I just went to the net with my stick on the ice. I didn’t even see it coming. I was just hard on my stick. I knew Bergy was coming to me. He made an unbelievable pass and I just put it in the open net.”
The goal proved to be the game-winner.
I agree Wallace, luckily Ference made the right play on Stamkos even if it cost them a penalty
Wallace – totally forgot about that gaffe – pretty sure I took his name in vain a few times there. Bs were playing like it was an intrasquad scrimmage in that first period.
The goal by marchand was beautiful. Great pass and great finish. However, him letting up and having stamkos break in is ABSOLUTELY INEXCUSABLE (its Ryder-esk). He should be thankful it didn’t cost them the game.
I find it interesting that what was successful about Chara in front of the net on the PP wasn’t what we all expected. Success didn’t result from screening – if there was any success it was the fact that Chara was winning possession battles down low and preventing Tampa from simply turning and firing the puck down ice like they’ve been able to do every other time.
i wish he and krejci would get real bruin forward numbers. heck, ryder too. 10, 13 and 16 are all available and would look good.
Z also needs to be looking for passing lanes because every time he gets the puck they line up 3 guys to block his shot.
Woulda been sweet if he potted that backhander
Agreed 100%.
I have no problem with him getting back on defense. I am only talking about the PP. On the PP, I like how they finall parked him in front of the net.
Z was below the dots and he’s been doing it a lot in this series. I have no problem with him bringing the puck down, but I’d like to see him getting back to the point for defensive responsibilities.
You and I will disagree on this all day MCK, but I think his shutdown capabilities and more important in this series. Especially with some of the horses that can be rushing the puck the other way and how they started to stretch the neutral zone late.
They need to get down low. Those shot points aren’t going to get through. They play way too high
Nice play by Z, although I do hate seeing him down that low so much. Fantastic pass by Bergie and a great finish while St. Louis was doing a pretty decent job on coverage. Winning battles.
He is the one player I definitely want the B’s to get resigned. I imagine his agent is waiting for the play offs to conclude before going into negotiations for obvious reasons. But he is one worth keeping.
Although he needs to stop diving. He is getting a reputation and pretty soon he isn’t going to get the calls even if the fall was for real.
Marchand is a very skilled player who should be with this team a long time.
Great pass to a stick on the ice.