BOSTON — Brad Marchand put himself in position to play hero. By making a critical mistake.
Marchand took an unnecessary “roughing” penalty early in the third period of the Bruins’ 4-3 overtime win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at TD Garden, when he got caught face-washing Calgary’s resident rat prince, Martin Pospisil (Nazem Kadri is of course the sitting rat king). The Flames promptly scored on the power play, as Yegor Sharangovich found good ice in the slot and deflected a MacKenzie Weegar shot past the Bruins’ Joonas Korpisalo to cut the Bruins’ lead from two to one.
The penalty and ensuing goal opened the door for a Flames comeback, allowing them to scratch out a point on Boston ice and force the Bruins to earn that second point in extra time. Had the Flames pulled off a come-from-behind win, Marchand’s infraction would’ve been the logical starting point. But it turned out that Marchand instead redeemed himself, taking advantage of an Elias Lindholm takeaway behind the Calgary net and banging home his own rebound for the game-winning goal.
The final 25 minutes of the game presented the classic highs and lows of Marchand’s game, and the Bruins to this point in the season. They’re still going to the box way too often – they’re up to a league-high 66 times shorthanded, and Marchand is fourth on the team with 18 penalty minutes. But the captain also has a knack for coming up big in 3-on-3 overtime, when the ice opens up for him and he aggressively pounces on opportunities.
“It’s obviously a bad penalty to take, bad time of game,” Marchand said. “The start of the period usually dictates, in a position like that, how your team’s going to play throughout the period. That’s just a bad penalty to take. So, definitely wanted to try to redeem myself. It doesn’t make up for it, but it’s good to get two points.”
Marchand is now up to four goals and seven assists in 15 games, quietly establishing a 60-point pace with points in four of his last five. At 36 years old and coming off multiple offseason surgeries, he may not quite have the same burst he used to bring to the ice. But he still brings the kind of energy that can will the Bruins to victory. They’ve especially needed that amid these trying times to open the 2024-25 season.
The Blender
Nov 5, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery watches the play against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. (Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images)
Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery is known for mixing up his lines, especially when the Bruins are struggling to click. But when do the changes start to contribute to those very problems?
The players may be wondering out loud. Thursday’s line combinations produced mixed results. While they lit the lamp enough to win, and chemistry is brewing among certain forwards, the puck management against Calgary was chaotic. Lot of passes to nowhere, indecisive shooting.
It would be understandable for frustration to mount over the constant changes, especially as the losses have piled up in recent days and that they came dangerously close to blowing another one on Thursday night. And while it may be strong to classify postgame player comments as TAKING SHOTS at their coach, they obviously thought enough to bring it up in the first place, such as Marchand when asked about his growing chemistry with Elias Lindholm.
Nov 7, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Calgary Flames defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (52) and Boston Bruins center Elias Lindholm (28) battle for the puck during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
“There’s always room for improvement,” Marchand said. “The more practice time you get and reps you get together, the more we’ll build it. But, again, the way Monty coaches, he changes the lines a lot, so he can change it at any point. But, you’re always trying to find chemistry as quick as you can with your linemates, for sure.”
Certain combinations showed enough to get another chance together on Saturday night against Ottawa. The line of Tyler Johnson, Pavel Zacha, and David Pastrnak was active and played fast. Marchand and Elias Lindholm are indeed showing a good rapport. Coyle and Cole Koepke showed a good connection on the latter’s second-period goal.
But as Marchand alluded, you never know when the next blender is coming. Stay tuned for the next set of lines.
Hampus Lindholm, Activated
Hampus Lindholm #27 of the Boston Bruins celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames during the first period at the TD Garden on November 7, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Rich Gagnon/Getty Images)
Credit to my Sports Hub Underground co-host and the host of the Sports Hub Hockey Show, Ty Anderson, who has been calling for defenseman Hampus Lindholm to be put in more offensive situations since the off-season. Montgomery empowered Lindholm to make a play early in Thursday’s game, icing him with the decidedly offensive-minded Johnson-Zacha-Pastrnak line.
Lindholm took advantage, activating down to the faceoff dot, where Pastrnak found him for a cross-ice pass. The defenseman made Flames goalie Dustin Wolf pay for coming too far out of the crease, deking around him and tucking the puck into a wide-open net to get the B’s out to an early lead.
Lindholm was happy to be put in that spot, and to prove to his coach that he belongs in more of them.
“I feel really good about my game,” Lindholm told reporters after the game. “It’s nice to get put out there in situations to succeed. It makes it fun for me to feel that reward, and to get a goal is always a good feeling.”
Lindholm has been the Bruins’ best, most consistent all-round defenseman to start the season. Adding more offense to his game would be much-welcomed for a team that’s struggled to put the puck over the goal line.
