Marchand’s streaking
B’s hope offense no passing fad
During the stretches in which he was suffering through scoring droughts — and let’s face it, there has been a fair amount of inconsistency in Brad Marchand’s career — the Bruins winger would always point out, quite rightly, that NHL players sometimes are getting the bounces and sometimes they’re not.
Also, he pointed out on a dozen quote sheets, there are other ways to contribute to team success than merely with goals and assists. He was right on both points. But it’s also true that there have a lwa y s been two versions of Marchand. One mediocre — and one a player who will go on the occasional magical streak and produce offense seemingly at will.
When Marchand gets hot, he gets red-hot. And he is right now.
“He’s feeling it,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien after yesterday’s 6-3 victory over the skidding Philadelphia Flyers — a game that featured a two-goal, three-assist performance from Marchand.
“That’s the word when I talk about Brad,” said Julien. “When he’s feeling it, he makes a lot of good things happen. It hasn’t always been like that this year. But now he’s starting to heat up.”
Yes, NHL play is not just about numbers. But let’s look at the ebb and flow of Marchand’s numbers anyhow.
He opened the season, after starring for Team Canada at the World Cup, with his first twogoal, three-assist masterpiece, and boasted 3-6-9 totals after the first four games.
In the 27 outings after Game 1, he scored only five more goals. But now the high-end production is back on, as he’s generated seven goals and two assists in his last six outings. So, has he somehow flipped a switch?
“I don’t think so,” said Marchand. “That’s just how hockey goes sometimes. Pucks bounce your way. And other times, they don’t. It is nice when things are going your way. You feel a little bit more confident, and you try things you (might be) a little nervous to try at different times.
“I just think our team is playing really good hockey right now. Everybody is playing well.”
Marchand capped his day with an empty-net score with 53.9 seconds left. But a couple of Marchand’s earlier scoring plays stood out.
On his first goal, he anticipated a D-to-D pass from Sean Couturier at the left point of the Philly power play. He intercepted the pass and took off with a semi-breakaway, with defenseman Ivan Provorov chasing from behind. As Marchand started to put a move on goalie Michal Neuvirth, he was hooked from behind by Provorov and lost the puck.
A delayed penalty was signaled — and it probably would have been a penalty shot — but the goalie missed on a poke-check and the puck slid between his legs and in.
“Yeah, things are going well,” said Marchand of scoring a goal when he never got off a shot. “But I would have got it on the penalty shot anyway.”
The first of Marchand’s three assists was a pass from the left boards that found defenseman Torey Krug skating hard to the net front. Krug, also on a red-hot scoring tear, had an easy tip-in of Marchand’s feed, giving the B’s a 3-1 lead 6:00 into Period 2.
“It was a great pass,” said Krug. “He almost fooled me on that. I’m just trying to create a middle lane drive and open up some space. He did a great job of selling the shot. (Me) going to the net, with a stick on the ice, it was pretty easy.”
The Marchand viewpoint: “When (Krug is) skating the way he has been lately, he’s lot of fun to watch. I was actually really surprised when I got that puck and he was at the net by himself. It just shows that he’s really on top of his game.”
Julien sees two guys, in Marchand and Krug, demonstrating what confidence means in this, or any, sport.
“When you’re confident you can do a lot of things,” said the coach. “And when the confidence turns into good things — as you’ve seen those two guys accomplish — it certainly makes you that much better a player.
“It’s nice to see those guys … to start to see things happening for them more and closer to what we know (about) those two players. That’s a key to our group here being a lot better.”
Marchand may stay hot for a long time, or not long at all. But it is fun to watch while it lasts.
‘He’s feeling it. . . . When he’s feeling it, he makes a lot of good things happen.’ — B’S COACH CLAUDE JULIEN On winger Brad Marchand