Brad Marchand Takes Moment To Cherish Milestone With Bruins

BOSTON — Brad Marchand skated in his 1,000th game for the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

The Bruins honored Marchand with an in-game montage highlighting his career during the first period of Boston’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, followed by thunderous cheering from the Black and Gold fans.

“I know how fortunate I am to be part of this organization and one organization your whole career, well at least up to this point,” Marchand told reporters after the game. “That’s part of what I love so much about being here is how much fans care, how much they embrace the team.

“It’s really special, and it flies by. You really have to enjoy every day and make the most of every moment. … I can’t believe how fast it’s already gone and it’s something you want to make last forever.”

Marchand said he was trying to block out the milestone because he wanted to be focused on the game.

“There’s moments, things that happen through the night that you do get to try and embrace,” Marchand explained. “My kids were in before the game and read the lineup, it’s just really special. … Getting the montage and looking back on it all. It is a very special thing, and it’s not something that everybody gets to do.”

Marchand said reaching 1,000 games was a goal he stopped looking to achieve a couple of years ago. He became just the fourth player in franchise history to play at least 1,000 games while playing their entire NHL career in Boston.

Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Wayne Cashman are the three other players to achieve the milestone with the Bruins. Ray Bourque, Don Sweeney, Johnny Bucyk and Zdeno Chara each recorded more than 1,000 NHL games but played for more franchises than just Boston. Ironically, though, all four of them played more than two-thirds of their games for the Bruins.

“It was something I wanted to hit until I realized that I was going to achieve it,” Marchand said. “… The way I’ve always worked is to set a goal that seems unattainable at the time, and then I work to achieve it.”

Marchand added: “Once this one became in sight, I set bigger goals that look like they could be attainable a long time away. There’s a work in progress, but again, there’s bigger goals and dreams and hopes for team wise and personally as well. It is incredible.”

The Bruins didn’t get the win over the Lighting, falling 3-2 in the shootout, but Marchand was happy with the effort.

“That was more like our team,” he said. “We play like that every night, we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to win most games.”

Marchand and his teammates will have to put this loss behind them as they try and snap their two-game losing streak when they host the Seattle Kraken at the Garden on Thursday night.