Brad Marchand Salutes ‘Dedicated’ Bruins Teammate For Gutsy Play

If you want an idea of how bought in the Bruins are in these Stanley Cup playoffs, look no further than the final play of the game Saturday night.

Boston was in cruise control after Trent Frederic’s empty-net goal with a little over two minutes left in Game 1 put the B’s up 5-1 at TD Garden. For all intents and purposes, Jim Mongomery’s side just needed to skate around and let the final 131 seconds of the contest wipe away.

But the Bruins, and most notably Jakub Lauko, never took their foot off the gas. The 24-year-old was on the ice for the game’s final shift, and he put his body on the line to block a Simon Benoit shot before the last buzzer sounded. The selfless play didn’t go unnoticed by Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who loved what he saw from Boston’s bottom-six forwards Saturday.

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“They all played great tonight,” Marchand told reporters, per a team-provided video. “You know, Lauk’s effort there — five seconds left and blocking that shot. He doesn’t need to do that, it’s 5-1 at that point. But it shows the dedication to the game, the details.”

Lauko hardly was the only heralded Bruin who left their mark on Game 1. John Beecher and the rest of Boston’s fourth line opened the scoring and set the tone for the series opener. Pat Maroon, meanwhile, impressed with both his skill and patented physicality in his first playoff tilt with the Black and Gold.

NHL teams need contributions from up and down the lineup to stage a deep postseason run. And if Game 1 was any indication, the Bruins have all hands on deck.