Marchand: There’s no reason to panic
A quick look at the standings suggests Wednesday’s showdown between the Bruins and Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena is a lot more important to the Leafs than it is to the B’s. Eleven points back of the B’s, the Leafs could very well be making their lastditch effort to create a race out of the Atlantic Division.
The B’s, however, are smarting. They’ve lost three straight, with their 4-1 loss in Carolina on Sunday being one of their worst showings of the season.
But Brad Marchand was giving off distinct no-panic vibes when he met with reporters after the B’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Tuesday. The B’s knew this bump would eventually arrive. Now they just have to work their way out of it. And the three losses, he argued, weren’t all bad.
“Listen, we easily could have won that game in Florida. The game we lost to Tampa, a lucky goal. Yeah, we didn’t have a good game in Carolina. But if you break it down, we’re not concerned,” said Marchand. “No one’s too concerned about losing three in a row. Yeah, it’s not ideal. But if you look at the way we lost, yeah, we gave up a bad one there in Florida (the tying goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in regulation), they got a lucky one in Tampa. It’s going to happen. We’re playing really good teams. We’re getting the best from every team that we play. And we know that. So we just have to dial it back a little bit. We’ll be all right.”
The torrid first few months may have set up unreasonable expectations for what this team could accomplish.
“You’re not going to coast through this league, regardless. We’re not that good of a team. Yeah, we’re good, but we’re not going to run through this league and we never thought that for a second,” said Marchand. “Even if you look at the games we won early on, it was because we play the right way, we play hard and we just find a way to win. It’s not like we’re dominating every game. There’s too much parity in the league. Even teams that are out of the playoffs right now, they could easily put up six, seven goals a night. It’s a very, very competitive league and the teams that come out on top at the end of the day are teams that find ways to win, find ways to stick with it and that’s where we’ve been really good and it’s allowed us to succeed. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter what you do in the regular season anyway. We could win every game and if we don’t win in the playoffs, it doesn’t mean anything.”
Starting with the third period in Tampa, it appeared that some fatigue was setting in with the B’s, who now sit at a still lofty 38-7-5.That fatigue could very well be mental, stemming from the fact that they’ve been the league’s measuring stick for a couple of months now.
“It makes the games harder, for sure. You’re competing at the highest levels every night,” said Marchand. “But we have our own measuring sticks. Teams look at us, but we look at other teams, too. There are easily seven or eight teams that are legit contenders. And really any team could come out of the woodwork at this point. You look at what St. Louis
13-win season, which included a first-round state tournament loss to Division 2 state champion Oliver Ames. This year’s team is 3-7, but it’s not all about wins and losses.
“Julia is everything to me and I can’t imagine my life without her. Even going a few days without seeing her is tough because she’s literally a part of me. She’s my best friend,” Durham said. “Basketball has definitely strengthened our friendship. We know that we can always talk about it, talk about the ups and downs on the court and stuff like that.”
Durham serves as the
came at Division 2 Fairmont State.
“It definitely means something to Joe, and it means a lot to us for him to do it,” Mazzulla said. “Joe’s been through a lot. He stepped into a situation that wasn’t ideal for anybody, and he strived and exceeded I’m sure a lot of expectations, so we’re happy for him.”
Mazzulla is the eighth coach in Celtics history to coach the All-star Game and first since Brad Stevens in 2017. It also marks just the third time in the last 24 seasons that a first-year coach was selected for the All-star Game.
Mazzulla deflected any credit.
“It’s more of a testament to the players and to the staff,” Mazzulla said. “The staff, as hard as they work on scouting and preparation and the relationships that they build with the players. So it’s a testament to the staff and then the players have to play the games and they have to win.
— Lawrence (Canal Street/intenze 978) in a male novice semifinal at 203
Fight nine
Patrickson Pierre — Somerville (Boston Boxing) vs. Timothy Higgins — Boston (Boston Boxing) in a male novice final at 156
Fight 10
did in ’19. It really doesn’t matter how teams view us. We take care of our game and how we view ourselves and how we want to build for the playoffs. It does make every game harder because they know they need to be prepared when they play us. But that’s only going to make s better down the road, too.”
Power outage
One way to snap out of this mini-slump would be to get the power play going again. Their 0-for-12 showing in the three losses dropped them down to sixth in the league (25.8%), and the goose egg was not as concerning as how disjointed the process looked. On many occasions, the B’s could never even gain the zone to set up.
What’s the root of that problem?
“I think attacking the blue line with speed and guys coming together. The timing of it,” said coach Jim Montgomery. “We had guys ahead of one another, we weren’t attacking the F1 of the penalty kill well enough, which is making it easier for them to stand
team’s point guard.
“Gabby is honestly one of the most level-headed, intelligent ballhandlers I have ever seen,” said Bellingham. “She’s absolutely special in that way. She has also developed into a scorer. She’s not the tallest person at 5-feet-6 inches but that never has affected her because she is wildly talented. She’s probably the most selfless player I’ve ever had. She makes everyone on the court better. She never stops on both ends of the court. She can shoot the three, big time. She can hit from four or five feet from beyond the line. She doesn’t do that every day but her range for a
And so I’m blessed that we have guys that you know work at it and I appreciate their support for our staff and for our organization. But if they don’t win the games and play as hard as they played, we’re not in this situation. So thank you to both of them.”
Smart in no rush
When Smart went down with a right ankle injury in Toronto, the feeling was familiar for the Celtics point guard.
“When I felt it, my ankle was just on fire,” Smart said.
Not only did Smart know right away he wouldn’t return in that game, but he knew it was the same exact injury he suffered that forced him to miss several games last postseason. But unlike then, he’s in no rush to return.
“There’s no need for that right now,” Smart said. “Playoffs, I probably would’ve tried it. But not right now.”
Noelle Boran — West Roxbury
(Boston Boxing) vs. Danielle Millian — Waltham (STC Boxing) in a female open final at 119
Fight 11
Berny Obas — Medford (Somerville Boxing Club) vs. Giovanni Daley — Methuen (Nonantum Boxing Club) in a male open final at 165
Fight 12
at the blue line. Then there has to be a willingness to not always carry it across but go and get your own chip-ins.”
There has also been some changing personnel. Taylor Hall took the injured Jake Debrusk’s spot as the net-front player and at first they continued to click at a good rate. But with the top unit flagging, Hall was replaced by David Krejci in Carolina, with Marchand taking the netfront. That was the set-up in Tuesday’s practice
“Once you mix up the units and there are different guys on it, there’s different chemistry. That’s part of it a little bit, just finding out where certain guys fit best and you just have to work on it,” said Marchand. “We didn’t have really have any reps together before we jumped on the line together, so it was just about getting some reps.”
Lettieri injured
Tough break for Vinni Lettieri. Providence’s leading scorer was called up to the B’s for the first time this year but suffered a lower body injury in practice
kid that size is(impressive).”
Landry is a different type of player. She stands 5-foot-9 and alternates between shooting guard and forward.
“Julia has been one incredible defender in her career. In her four years, she has guarded every position, on any day. She’ll do anything you ask of her. She’s a high motor player. She plays in both ends,” said Bellingham. “Her passion for the game is notably unmatched. In the offensive end, she’s an incredible shooter, she moves the ball but that all stems back to her defense, and her passion and care.”
Once this season is completed,
Smart will miss his fifth consecutive game Wednesday against the Nets with a right ankle sprain but he’s encouraged by his progress. He said he’s not feeling as much pain as he did last year, and he’s making “small improvements” in his recovery. He hasn’t resumed basketball activities as he waits for the ankle to heal more.
“Just trying to wait for it to heal a little bit more because of the bone bruise and things like that that’s going on with it,” Smart said. “I don’t want to get out there and put too much pressure on it early and now we’re starting back at day one.”
Smart initially thought he would be out 1-2 weeks with the injury, but with two weeks until the Allstar break, it’s possible he doesn’t return until after then but that’s yet to be decided.
“Right now, we’re just taking it one day at a time,” Smart said. “It’s one
Tommy Martinez — Lawrence and was on crutches afterward. The severity of the injury was not known, but he could not travel with the team to Toronto.
Jakub Lauko, also brought up from Providence, will be fourth line right wing with center Trent Frederic and left wing A.J. Greer. David Pastrnak was reunited with Marchand and Patrice Bergeron, left wing Hall was on the second line with Krejci and Pavel Zacha while Charlie Coyle center Nick Foligno and Craig Smith.
Debrusk progressing
Debrusk, out since breaking his fibula in the Winter Classic, skated before and during B’s practice in a non-contact jersey. Montgomery said that he’d be “shocked” if the winger wasn’t ready to play in their first game back after the break against Washington on Feb. 11. …
The Leafs will be without star Auston Matthews, but they’ve fared pretty well without Matthews in the lineup over the years, going 32-17-2 in his absence.
the two plan on playing four more years together at Umass Boston.
“Gabby is my rock. We have been through it all together, the good times and the bad times. It’s just crazy to me that I can have someone to lean on and trust fully. She’s one of the very few people who I can fully trust. It’s a really good relationship,” Landry said. “We are with each other every single day. There’s just so much love between the two of us. It’s just a great friendship. The relationship that we have has just made my life better in so many ways. I would never take that for granted.”
of those things if I’m feeling good enough to get out there, then I’ll be out there. If it’s not, then there’s no need to try to get out for a game or two and we got Allstar coming up. I’ll probably know here in the next couple games whether or not that’s the case.”
Odds & ends
Robert Williams, who missed Saturday’s win over the Lakers with a left ankle sprain, is progressing. Asked if he’ll return against the Nets, Mazzulla said, “There’s always a chance.” …
Saturday’s Celtics-lakers game was the most-watched “NBA Saturday Primetime on ABC” game since Feb. 2, 2019. It averaged 3.7 million viewers, peaking at 5 million from 11:15-11:30 p.m. …
The Maine Celtics announced they acquired nine-year NBA veteran guard Tony Snell. They waived guard Trey Davis, who will pursue basketball opportunities overseas.
(Canal Street/intenze 978) vs. Wesley Smith — Ipswich (Gloucester Boxing Club) in a male novice final at 147
Fight 13
Apostolus Lolos — Manchester, N.H. (Nonantum Boxing Club) vs Henry Ung — Jamaica Plain (Boston Boxing) in a male open semifinal at 139