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 The slight but slick left winger scored his 26th goal of the season
and added an assist to guide the Bruins to a 6-2 victory over the
Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
Marchand snapped a 2-2 tie with just 1:15 left in a wild first
period, collecting a pass from right winger Brett Connolly at center
ice, darting past defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and then lifting a
backhand over the shoulder of goalie Connor Hellebuyck to give the
Bruins a lead they would not relinquish.
Boston (29-19-6) rebounded nicely from one of their worst losses in
nearly a decade, a 9-2 home-ice defeat Tuesday night at the hands of
the Los Angeles Kings.
The Jets (24-27-3), meanwhile, failed to win a third game in a row
for the eighth time this season.
Marchand, 27, a native of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has scored in five
straight games, and has 11 goals in his last 11 contests. His career
high for goals in a single season is 28, registered during the
2011-12 campaign.
He also set up center Patrice Bergeron's 20th goal of the season at
1:38 of the first period.
That trio was definitely clicking as Bergeron added his 21st in the
third period, while Connolly supplied three assists. But Marchand,
considered by many as the NHL's premier agitator, is the spark that
ignites the Bruins on most nights.
"(Marchand) means a lot," said Boston bench boss Claude Julien, who
is now just a win shy of 500 for his NHL coaching career. "You see
what he does. He's a good penalty killer, he's a great goal scorer
and he's also good on the power play. He's been really good as of
late. Any chance he buries.
"He's been a real sparkplug for our hockey club. He keeps us alive,
and when you play with that kind of confidence and you have that
much skill and speed, it makes for a pretty good player."
Bruins right winger Loui Eriksson notched his 17th of the season,
sandwiched between Jets center Bryan Little's 17th and right winger
Nikolaj Ehlers' 12th of his rookie campaign.
Boston led 3-2 after the first and second periods.
Right winger David Pastrnak notched his fifth goal of the season 35
seconds into the third period to give the visitors a two-goal
cushion, and right winger Jimmy Hayes scored his 12th into an empty
net with 4:48 left to make it a blowout.
The Bruins are 16-3-3 when Marchand lights the lamp and are 23-4-4
when he records at least a point.
"He's playing really well right now. It's obvious he's very
confident and making good plays," said Connolly. "When he's skating
and moving his feet and confident, he's a very hard player to knock
of the puck. Right now, he's playing very, very good. He's been
arguably our best player for a while now and he continues to score
now. It's impressive."
Marchand preferred to laud the play of his linemates.
"Bergy and Conns have been playing great. All three goals our line
was on for, they won battles and competed hard and made really good
plays," he said. "I think I'm just benefitting from that."
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Marchand said the Bruins displayed tremendous character, putting in
a solid 60-minute effort after the smacking they took just two
nights before.
"I thought we had a really good game. Not only did we outscore them
by a lot, I thought we just played a very sound game," he said.
"Whenever they scored a goal to come back, we bounced back. We
didn't panic. And we did a really good job of having that killer
instinct in the third period, so I'm really proud of the club
today."
Tuukka Rask made 34 saves in goal for Boston, while Hellebuyck
stopped just eight of 11 shots before being replaced by Michael
Hutchinson. He blocked 25 shots in 40 minutes of relief.
Midway through the second period, Winnipeg was actually outshooting
Boston 30-15 but then got blitzed in the final 28 minutes.
"They turned it up to a level that we weren't able to get to in the
second half of the game. That was the difference," summed up Jets
right winger Blake Wheeler, who had two assists.
Jets head coach Paul Maurice was even more succinct when asked how
the Bruins were able to turn the tables.
"The simplest thing is they got faster and we got slower," he said.
Winnipeg opens a four-game road trip Saturday night in Edmonton
before heading southeast for games against Carolina, Tampa Bay and
Florida.
The Bruins continue their longest road trip of the season, a
six-game trek with stops in Minnesota, Detroit, Columbus, Nashville
and Dallas.
NOTES: Boston C Landon Ferraro and D Colin Miller were healthy
scratches, while C Chris Kelly (broken leg) and D Adam McQuaid
(upper body) remain sidelined. ... Winnipeg G Ondrej Pavelec (knee)
is days away from returning to the team. The hosts did not dress D
Paul Postma, D Adam Pardy and RW Anthony Pelusa, although all are
healthy. ... Jets RW Drew Stafford returned to the lineup after
serving a one-game suspension Tuesday night. ... Bruins C Max Talbot
celebrated his 32nd birthday Thursday. ... Winnipeg D Dustin
Byfuglien, who signed a five-year contract extension with the Jets
on Monday, played over 28 minutes in his 390th game with the club
Tuesday in St. Louis. ... Boston's 9-2 loss to Los Angeles on
Tuesday was the most goals the team has allowed in a game since
March 3, 2008 at Washington (10-2 loss). ... The Jets have seven
players with 12 or more goals this season, tied with the Capitals
for the most in the league.
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