13 years later, Brad Marchand continues to torment the Vancouver Canucks
"He's a guy you gotta watch out for.”
The more things change, the more they remain the same.
For a short stretch of time, the Bruins-Canucks rivalry was arguably the most heated strife in the NHL.
That venom doled out between both franchises was not without merit, considering the vitriol extracted out of a seven-game title bout featuring bone-crunching hits, postgame passive-aggressive chirps, and the unsanctioned gnawing of fingers after the whistle.
Fair to say, most of that hostility has dispersed over the past decade.
But in Thursday’s showdown between the top two teams in the NHL, it came as little surprise that the bane of Canucks’ fandom those many summers ago once again reared his head on the TD Garden ice.
Brad Marchand — the lone player still in the Bruins’ dressing room from that 2011 Stanley Cup triumph over Vancouver — may not be the same post-whistle menace he was during his heyday.
But even with a “C” now stitched onto his sweater, the 35-year-old Bruins wing still hasn’t lost his affinity for doling out pain against the Canucks.
And in one of Boston’s most convincing wins of the season on Thursday night, Marchand once again led the way for the Bruins.
“I followed that for a long time,” Charlie Coyle said of Marchand’s climb up the record books. “Ever since March started playing and started putting up goals on the PK — he’s a guy you gotta watch out for.”
The Canucks have yet to learn their lesson.
More than 4,600 days after Marchand orchestrated one of the most spectacular tallies of his career by way of a shorthanded dangle-fest against Roberto Luongo, Marchand once again shifted momentum on Boston’s side during an early PK sequence.
Thursday’s matchup didn’t feature the same stakes, for sure.
But with Boston looking to put a disheartening loss to the Flames in the rearview mirror, a spirited showing against the top squad in the Western Conference presented a sizable opportunity.
And just 32 seconds into regulation, Marchand went to work following an early stint in the sin bin for Jakub Lauko.
What looked like a harmless play for Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko quickly devolved into mayhem thanks to some relentless forechecking pressure from Marchand.
As Marchand raced toward the end boards, Demko sent along an errant feed that was picked off by Charlie Coyle. As the pivot regained the biscuit, Marchand shifted to the crease — wristing the puck past an outstretched Vancouver goalie to give Boston a 1-0 lead.
It was one for the record books for Marchand, who moved into a tie for ninth place in NHL history with the 35th shorthanded goal of his career.
“His instincts are one of the best I’ve seen,” Jim Montgomery said of Marchand’s impact on the PK. “Just his ability to — we have structure in our PK. And then there are certain players within the structure — they can read plays and either create offense or kill plays and get the puck down the ice.
“He just has the innate ability because of his hockey sense, his intelligence, to read other players, what they’re thinking about doing, which allows him to intercept passes a lot.”
Marchand’s early strike gave Boston the momentum it needed, with Danton Heinen adding another shorthanded goal at 15:37 in the first to double the home team’s lead.
After relinquishing at least one power-play tally in 14 of their last 21 games, the Bruins’ PK responded with a perfect 3-for-3 showing against a high-powered Canucks team averaging 3.71 goals per contest (second overall in NHL).
Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha added some insurance for the Bruins, who also limited Vancouver to just 17 shots on goal as part of Linus Ullmark’s first shutout of the season.
And while plenty of praise has been doled out to players like Ullmark, Swayman and Coyle, Marchand is in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career.
Even without his longtime stalwart on the ice in Patrice Bergeron — and less than two years removed from major surgery on both of his hips — Marchand is on pace for the first 40-goal season of his career.
The Bruins will welcome Marchand’s snarl on the ice, as well as his habit of lighting the lamp.
But as Boston aims to hoist the Stanley Cup once again, having a player who’s been there before tends to come in handy — especially if they meet up with Vancouver once again in June.
“Obviously Bergy and Zee [Zdeno Chara] were a big part of it,” Ullmark said of Boston’s veterans setting an example. “Now, still, Marchy has been here for a lot of years. But then you have guys like [Charlie] McAvoy, Pasta — those guys are still carrying the torch and doing the things and we talk about it.
“We’re very open, saying that we keep each other accountable. … We still have to do that, because we know we need to do that to reach our end goal.”
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