Brad Marchand Needles Maple Leafs After Historic Game 7 Win

After Florida trounced Toronto in Game 7 on Sunday night, Brad Marchand told Maple Leafs superfan Paul Bissonnette that he was going to take the high road and not gloat about the Panthers’ high-stakes win.

Well, the former Boston Bruins captain could only operate with so much grace at Scotiabank Arena.

Marchand, who became the first player in NHL history to win at least five winner-take-all games over the same franchise, chopped it up with the NHL on TNT crew after the reigning Stanley Cup champions cruised to a 6-1 victory. Toward the end of the interview, Bissonnette asked Marchand what went into Florida keeping its foot on the gas from wire to wire.

“Yeah, we just had the belief,” a grinning Marchand said as he put extra emphasis on the second syllable of the last word in that quote. The TNT crew immediately picked up on Marchand’s wordplay, and Bissonnette even took a lap around the studio as punishment for the veteran forward’s “corny” joke.

To be fair, Marchand earned the right to have the last laugh in this second-round series. Not only did he keep Toronto in his back pocket, but he also was at his best when a trip to the Eastern Conference finals was on the line. The 37-year-old had a three-point night with a goal and two assists in one of the league’s most hostile environments for visiting players.

The Panthers now are on to a best-of-seven set with the Hurricanes. Marchand owns a career 11-5 postseason record against Carolina, where the sides will meet for Game 1 on Tuesday.