Brad Marchand Believes This About Bruins’ Second-Half Chances

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins have won their last two games, both against Atlantic Division rivals and teams ahead of them in the standings: the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was Boston’s first winning streak since before the Christmas break when the Black and Gold had won eight of its 11 games. Coming out of the break, however, was a completely different story. The Bruins won just one of its first eight games, including a six-game losing streak.

After Bruins president Cam Neely said the team could possibly go through a retool on or before the March 7 NHL trade deadline, captain Brad Marchand said before the Black and Gold Gala at the Fairmont Copley Plaza on Wednesday that he still believes things can turn around.

“We’re aware of the situation we’re in. We understand the roads that are in front of us and where they lead. We understand we haven’t performed the way we’ve needed to, and there are consequences that come with that,” Marchand said. “There are very high expectations in this organization. We’re expected to perform and do our job and compete every year for a Cup. And if we’re not going to do that, then changes are going to be made so the team does compete for a Cup.”

Marchand added that the Bruins simply need to focus on their next practice and game, not what can happen in March.

“Our biggest thing is we can’t look ahead. There’s too much that can happen between now and (the deadline) We have to take it day by day and put a good stretch together. You look at some teams in the past that have been in positions similar to ours, and they’ve gone to Finals and won Cups. We’re not in a terrible spot. Yeah, we’re not in the best spot, but it doesn’t mean we can’t accomplish something special this year. The last couple of games, we showed we can compete with good teams, and we just need to continue to build off that.”