Marchand’s Emotional Weekend Lifts Bruins

BOSTON – The emotion on Brad Marchand’s face was evident.

As the Bruins captain was swarmed by his teammates after notching the overtime winner on Saturday night in Toronto, it was clear that it meant much more than a typical tally.

But at the time, no one on the outside quite knew why.

That changed the following night after Marchand, once again, lifted his team to victory with a stirring third-period performance that included his sixth career hat trick in a span of just 5:50 to pace Boston to their third straight win – a 3-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at TD Garden.

Following his postgame scrum, Marchand confirmed to reporters some social media rumblings that his grandmother had passed away. Frances O’Leary, his maternal grandmother, died on Friday night. Marchand’s sister Rebecca posted a photo on social media of the family huddled around a large screen watching her brother’s hat trick against the Blue Jackets.

“He’s a true leader, and we all knew that from the beginning,” said Jeremy Swayman. “For him to take it on his back and just not take no for an answer after a back-to-back, three-in-four, is what leaders do. He’s gonna show up in the right times. He’s been doing that his whole career.

“Really special night for him and, obviously, his entire family, so really happy for him.”

Marchand, who has tallied Boston’s last four goals, tied Sunday’s game just 1:56 into the third period when he fired home a gorgeous feed from Danton Heinen. He struck again at 5:37 when he collected a Charlie McAvoy feed and potted a wrister from the top of the slot on the power play to give Boston a 2-1 advantage. And then at 7:46 of the final frame, the Boston captain capped the natural hat trick with another wrister from the top of the left circle.

“Man, unbelievable, natural hat trick in the third, and it really felt like he just kind of threw us on his back and said, ‘I'll take us across the finish line here’, and he has that capability,” said McAvoy. “He plays with so much passion and energy, and off of a back-to-back, you’re a little bit fatigued, unfortunately going into the third down one.

“Had a lot of good looks, but that feeling creeping in like maybe it's not your night. We refocused in between periods, and he came out and just put us on his shoulders. I'm so happy for him, and he’s the captain, that's what he does."

Marchand’s trio of tallies – all within the first 7:46 of the third period – were the third-fastest three goals by one player to start a period, behind Leo Labine on Nov. 28, 1954 (7:01 of the second) and Bobby Bauer on Nov. 20, 1946 (7:30 of the first). The last Bruin to record a hat trick in less than 5:50 was Martin Lapointe who did it in 5:15 on March 13, 2003.

His first goal of the night was his 274^th career even-strength goal, which tied Bergeron for fourth-most in Bruins history, while his second was his 75^th power-play goal, surpassing Bobby Orr for sole possession of ninth-most in Bruins history.

“He’s just a special player and it’s what he’s done his whole career,” said McAvoy. “It was awesome to see, not only [Saturday] night, but him get the winner, and then carry it over to today. He means the world to this to this group, and when he's in that zone, we’ve just got to follow along.”

The offensive explosion for Marchand came after a slower scoring stretch for the 35-year-old, who had gone eight games without a goal before his overtime strike on Saturday night in Toronto.

“Not really, really wasn't too concerned about it,” Marchand said when asked if it felt like a weight was lifted from his shoulders. “I felt like I was having three or four really good opportunities to score every night. That's how the game goes. Sometimes you get one shot, and you get a goal and sometimes you get 10 and don't get one.

“I don't judge my game based on if I score or not, it's more about how the details are going, if opportunities are there, because if you’re consistently getting them, they're gonna go in eventually, so I wasn't really worried about it. I've learned this point in my career, that's how the game goes.”

Marchand said that he learned last year as he went through a lengthy goal-less drought as he battled through his comeback from offseason hip surgery that maintaining the right mindset is crucial.

“I think I went through the worst one of my career last year,” said Marchand. “I don't think it matters what you've accomplished, or what you've done in this league. It's hard every night and that's just proof that confidence is a huge factor too. Whether you have it or you don't, it can really drastically change the way that you play and view the game.

“t's just about having a good mindset and continue to stick with it. There's so many other details in the game that matter other than just scoring and that go into scoring. You win a game, you win and lose games, by the details and the way you play it.

"Now, that's what we preach in this room. I think that's because when we're focused on.”

Marchand’s three-goal outing was also his first career natural hat trick (three consecutive team goals) and just the third for a Bruin in the last 10 years, joining Patrice Bergeron (Nov. 4, 2021 and Jan. 6, 2018) and Jake DeBrusk (Feb. 28, 2022).

“Nice to get, they don’t come often,” said Marchand. “That’s just sometimes how it goes, you get the bounces and sometimes you don't.”

Wait, There’s More

• McAvoy on playing in his 400^th career game on Sunday night: “I'm just stacking games up and it's a great achievement. It's an honor to play in this league, so I’m blessed with the opportunities that I have – 400 is nice. It means a lot more that we won tonight.”
• McAvoy on the shot he took off the leg late in Sunday night’s game: “It’s just one of those you get it off the kneecap, kind of just a stinger – can't feel it for a second.”
• Heinen, who has seven points over his last 10 games, on getting more comfortable back with the Bruins: “Just trying to just keep on building, keep on just trying to try to get more comfortable and get more confident every game. I’m playing with good players so that makes it makes it easy… I think the hardest thing is just try not to change too much playing with those guys [Charlie Coyle and Marchand].”
• Swayman on Sunday’s Hockey is for Everyone night: “It’s amazing. It just gives you an extra edge to understand that hockey’s more than a game. There’s people that are playing all over the world for different reasons, and we’re inclusive, and I think that’s what hockey players are proud to be, and we’ll continue to be that. Really special getting to see those kids come out on the ice tonight, seeing the smiles on their face, and having some dreams come true. They got to know that they’re an inspiration to us too, and we support that everyone who’s playing hockey around the world, no matter what level. Really special to keep growing that game.”