Following a huge stop by Tuukka Rask on John Taveres at the doorstep during the Isles' power play, Marchand taught the other goaltender a serious lesson on underestimating the rookie's speed and determination.
And it cost the New Yorkers dearly.
Tied at one apiece with about five minutes to go in the middle frame, the former Boston University netminder, Rick DiPietro, came well out of his net to play a loose puck and as Marchand dashed towards him, he shot a pass attempt into the winger, who gathered the loose puck and stuffed it into the vacant net for the go-ahead goal.
"When I saw him coming out I saw the he was going to try and shoot on his forehand side, so I jumped in the lane and, [it's] a good thing," Marchand said after the B's win. "A lot of times, if a goalie thinks he can beat a player to the puck he'll come out that far, especially when they're on the power play, I was just hoping I could beat him to the puck and it worked out well because he was so far out of the net that he couldn't recover. "
"I think I kind of fooled him and switched lanes at the last second there and it worked out."
But it's not just the points that rev Marchand's engine. His fourth tally on the season was just icing on the strong penalty-killing cake.
"I love it [killing penalties], You know, me and Soupy [Greg Campbell] take a lot of pride in it and so do all the other guys that do the PK. Its part of the game –- we've got to keep pucks out of the net. It's a great job and we have a lot of fun doing it.
"Any time they score a goal we're upset about it but that the same time, you want to play a little offense too," he added. "Most of the time on power plays, guys sit back and don't really play defense so we've got to take advantage of that."
And on Thursday, his hustle was the difference maker as the B's, who were out-shot 17-9 in the second period, were given a jolt of energy following the tally.
"Any time a team scores against us shorthanded it's a kick in the butt so we make sure we do the same to the other team and put pressure on them," Marchand said. "Any time you can use it to swing momentum, it's great for us."
It seems like that line of Soupy, Marshy and Shawn Thornton has been providing the B's with plenty of momentum –- and even goals -– a lot lately, which feeds down the bench and right into the top line snipers.
"They've done a great job of stepping up and making big plays and scoring big goals," said Milan Lucic, who netted a pair of goals. "I thought that second period we kind of got away from our game and they were slowly creeping in and taking over. It was a great play for [Marchand] to go right at DiPietro and to try and make a play and it worked in our favor. Those guys are great for us every night, they've given us a huge energy boost day in and day out."
DiPietro, who had a delay of game penalty, allowed three goals on 37 shots. The B's technically had two empty-net goals on Thursday, but his blunder in the second allowed Marchand to easily put one home in an un-manned net.
"The margin for error in this game, in this league, at this level is pretty small," said DiPietro. "The difference between winning and losing is a play here or a play there. I don't know, tonight, unfortunately, that clearing attempt on our power play ended up costing us."
