Brad Marchand Saves Bruins’ Start With Timely Short-Handed Goal

BOSTON — The Bruins certainly had an eventful opening minute against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night at TD Garden.

Off of the opening puck drop, Boston’s Jakub Lauko earned a trip to the penalty box when he held Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua, putting the Bruins’ penalty kill on the ice just 17 seconds into the game.

Against the leaders of the Western Conference, the Bruins’ captain stepped up to flip the script. Boston gained possession off of the face-off in the defensive zone, setting up the attack. After Charlie Coyle fired a shot toward the net, Brad Marchand cleaned up the rebound and fired a short-handed goal past Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko to put the Bruins on the board.

Marchand’s goal is the earliest of the season for the Bruins, per NESN stats, scoring just 32 seconds into the matchup. The Boston captain also secured his 25th goal of the season on the play, good for his second short-handed goal of the year. The 35-year-old also scored in the regular season against Vancouver for the 12th time in his career.

On a sequence that could’ve put Boston at an early deficit, Marchand delivered to redirect the momentum of the game.

You can catch the Canucks-Bruins matchup on NESN.