When Brad Marchand scored the overtime winner Saturday night in Toronto, it appeared to mean more to him than a regular-season game-winner usually would. He looked emotional leaving the ice and put his hand over his mouth at one point.
Marchand's natural hat trick lifts Bruins past Blue Jackets
He was emotional, and it did mean more. And it wasn’t because it snapped an eight-game goalless drought or because it came against the rival Maple Leafs in a marquee Hockey Night in Canada game.
Marchand’s grandmother, Frances O’Leary, passed away Friday night. Publicly, all the emotions Marchand was working through on Saturday were not evident during his pregame media availability, nor during most of the game. But in those moments after he finished off a thrilling 4-3 victory, they came pouring out.
“I don’t know if you could tell, but I was pretty emotional coming off the ice [in Toronto]. It kind of all hit me in that moment,” Marchand said Sunday.
The rest of his family was gathered at his grandfather’s house, watching with pride.
“It was a good moment for the family in a tough time,” Marchand said.
There were more good moments Sunday night – three of them, in fact. With Boston trailing 1-0 after two periods and at risk of losing to the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second time in a week, Marchand put the Bruins on his back, scoring a natural hat trick to lead his team to a 3-1 victory.
First he finished off a great pass from Danton Heinen on the rush, with a partial whiff on the shot working to his advantage as Columbus goalie Spencer Martin couldn’t adjust to the changeup. Less than four minutes later, Marchand gave the Bruins the lead on the power play, walking into the high slot and snapping a shot past Martin’s glove. Two minutes after that, he drew a penalty and capped off the hat trick with another power-play goal, once again beating Martin glove-side.
“He's just a special player,” Charlie McAvoy said of Marchand. “It's what he's done his whole career. So, it was awesome to see not only last night, but him get the winner and then carry it over to today. He means the world to this group. When he's in that zone, we just have to follow along.”
The Bruins followed their captain this weekend, just as they have all season. For his coach, Marchand’s leadership in the face of last week’s three-game losing streak – at a time when Marchand himself was slumping – may have been even more important than Marchand’s on-ice leadership this weekend.
“I think his leadership stood out more while we were going through our adversity and losing, and how well he led us in his practice habits and helping the team dig in on the checking part of our game,” Jim Montgomery said.
Montgomery said he wasn’t worried about Marchand’s scoring slump, and neither was Marchand, who felt like he was getting good chances and that it was only a matter of time until the goals came.
“I really wasn't too concerned about it,” Marchand said. “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 you'll get one. So, I don't judge my game based on if I score or not. It's more about how the details are going and if the opportunities are there, because if you’re consistently getting them, they're gonna go in eventually.”
They did finally go in this weekend, and then they wouldn’t stop going in. This was vintage Marchand, a player who can still take over games at age 35, and who can still be the heart and soul of the team even when he’s playing with a heavy heart himself.
“He’s a true leader,” goalie Jeremy Swayman said of Marchand. “…For him to take it on his back and just not take no for an answer after back-to-back, three-in-fours, is what leaders do. He’s gonna show up in the right times, and he’s been doing that his whole career. Really special night for him, and obviously his entire family. So, we’re really happy for him.”