Boston Bruins’ veteran winger Brad Marchand put his thoughts into words on a topic that all hockey players instinctively know to be true. In a press conference following the Bruins’ narrow game five victory over the Florida Panthers, he commented on the heavy physicality we’ve seen in the playoffs this year.
“I think he got away with one.”
Brad Marchand weighs in on Sam Bennett’s punch and whether he thought it was a cheap shot: pic.twitter.com/XYFG4r8mTF
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During game five, Marchand was the victim of a punch from Panthers forward Sam Bennett. There was no penalty called on the play which many fans thought as egregious. “He plays hard, he’s an extremely physical player,” Marchand said. “…I think he got away with this shot, but I’m not going to complain. It happens”.
The Bruins are barely still alive in the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs and they owe much of their success to the strong play and leadership of Marchand. The 36-year-old has three goals and 10 points in 10 playoff games this year. He is tied for first on the team in playoff scoring with Jake DeBrusk.
Marchand continued, “People don’t want to say it but part of the playoff is trying to hurt every player on the other team. And the more guys you take out, the more advantage your team has. People don’t say that, but that’s just a fact of the game. So every time you step on the ice, someone is trying to hurt someone and that’s just how it goes in the playoffs. That’s part of the benefit of having a physical group. That’s why you see teams go the distance with a big D-core and physical teams. And it’s why you rarely see teams that are small and skilled go far, because they get hurt.”
The Bruins are currently down 3-2 in the series versus the Panthers. Boston has only scored 2.5 goals per game in the playoffs but have scratched and clawed their way into where they are now. They’ve gotten there largely on the back of goalie Jeremy Swayman who owns a 6-4-1 record, with a 2.16 GAA and .933 SV%.
The Bruins are set to play game six on on home ice Thursday evening and hope to force a game seven in Florida on Sunday.
