The Boston Bruins struggled mightily in their first two games without Brad Marchand, falling to the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals by a combined score of 8-2.
Their third game without the suspended winger had a much more desirable outcome.
With Marchand serving contest No. 3 of the three-game ban he earned for upending Mark Borowiecki early last week, the Bruins on Friday coasted past a depleted New Jersey Devils squad in the opener of a five-game road trip.
Boston never trailed in the 4-1 victory, and three of their four goals came from players who have spent the majority of this season on the Bruins’ third line. The fourth came off the stick of rookie defenseman Colin Miller, who’d appeared in just one of the team’s previous four games.
“I think we kept it simply early,” Miller told NESN rinkside reporter Sarah Davis. “We had a really strong first period there, and I think it kind of carried over to the rest of the game. I think maybe a little bit in the second period, we had a couple of lapses, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty solid 60 minutes.”
A win over a team as injury-ravaged as the Devils are — seven(!) of their regulars missed the game with injuries — is hardly anything to write home about, but given the Bruins’ recent track record, Friday’s showing was a much-needed confidence-booster.
Boston had gone a miserable 1-5-0 in its previous six outings, and its five-game trip begins with three consecutive games against fellow Eastern Conference playoff hopefuls. Those would be the Devils, who led the Bruins by a point in the wild-card standings entering their matchup; the Ottawa Senators, who now trail the B’s by two points in the Atlantic Division; and the New York Rangers, who have slipped to third in the Metropolitan after beginning the season as one of the NHL’s top teams.
The Ottawa game, which is set for Saturday night, should be a particularly intense one, as the Senators surely will have revenge on their minds after the 7-3 beatdown the Bruins handed them last Tuesday. That meeting also included a late-game line brawl, the low hit that earned Marchand his suspension and plenty of postgame shade thrown Marchand’s way by those in the Senators’ dressing room.
The polarizing winger, who enters the weekend tied for the Bruins’ lead in goals despite his three-game absence, can’t wait to rejoin the lineup for the rematch.
“It’s been tough,” Marchand told reporters Friday, as aired on “Bruins Overtime LIVE.” “I’ve done it before; I’ve missed games before, and it’s always hard any time you have to watch your team play, especially when we’ve been off for, I think, 11 days between three games. So, it’s been a tough week-and-a-half, but I’m really excited. Any time you sit out for a while and have to watch the team play, you always get hungry to get back out there, and I’m really excited about (Saturday).
“It’ll be nice to be back out there with the guys, and hopefully we have a big game.”
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
