Brad Marchand garnered high praise from his coach and teammates after the Boston Bruins’ shootout win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
It’s nothing new to Marchand, a 12-year veteran, to help get his team amped up and provide a spark to help energize them when it’s needed the most.
That was on full display Tuesday when Marchand dropped the gloves (and body-slammed) Jesper Bratt before scoring a goal at TD Garden. The Bruins then stormed back to win the game.
For Marchand, though, he knows that’s what it takes to win hockey games.
“You need a group to be on the same page to play the same way,” Marchand said after the game, “that have the same structure in their game, and wanna do the same things. So, I think we have a lot of different guys who can do that, compete. But at the same time when it’s your job to take the body or go grind it out, we expect everybody to do that. We look at everybody to play the same way every time we’re on the ice. We gotta compete hard and win your battles. That’s what winning hockey is all about, it’s what’s been a huge staple of our team for a long time.”
Sounds like Marchand and head coach Bruce Cassidy are on the same page.
The Bruins look to carry their momentum into Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at TD Garden.
