Pat Maroon pushes back against narrative about Bruins’ response vs. Panthers

"Like, we got to win a (expletive) hockey game. That’s what it comes down to."

Pat Maroon has been looking to do some damage against the Panthers in this series. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

May 14, 2024

3 minutes to read

BEDFORD— Pat Maroon is one of the most feared bruisers in the NHL for a reason.

A seasoned scrapper with 990 penalty minutes and 131 total fights on his resume, Maroon has the size (6-foot-3, 234 pounds) and snarl to take on just about anyone in this league.

Perhaps it’s for that very reason that the Florida Panthers have refused Maroon’s repeated requests for some post-whistle pleasantries.

In a heated second-round series where the Bruins already lost their captain Brad Marchand to a sucker punch and saw their star player in David Pastrnak drop the gloves in a lopsided Game 2 loss, Maroon has been on the prowl and looking to dole out some damage.

The 36-year-old wing chirped Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky during warmups ahead of Game 4 — later challenging Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, and just about every other Panthers skater out on the ice.

Pat Maroon offering his services to anybody in a white sweater pic.twitter.com/wck6jAiKiV
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) May 12, 2024

The Bruins brought Maroon aboard at the trade deadline for this very reason as a physical tone-setter. But so far, the Panthers aren’t pouncing at Maroon’s challenges.

It’s not for a lack of effort on the power forward’s end, however.

“I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t,” Maroon said of landing welts against the Panthers. “Listen, I’m sure everyone’s wondering why I haven’t done anything. I’ll sit here and say — it’s not like I haven’t tried, or I don’t want to do anything.

“I love my captain. I love the guys. Trust me, it’s a tough business and everyone’s looking at me to do something. And fortunately, I am trying. But we can’t really focus on that. It’s over. It’s done with. We got to focus on winning a hockey game now.”

Maroon might still be an imposing presence on the ice, but the Bruins also added the three-time Stanley Cup champion for his veteran mettle and leadership — especially during dire situations like the one currently facing this team.

Considering Marchand’s uncertain status for Game 5 and the dearth of any discipline handed out to Sam Bennett, should the Bruins focus on trying to dish out punishment against Florida’s top skaters as retribution?

Maroon offered a more measured stance about the task at hand for a Bruins team on the brink of elimination — and pushed back against talk that Boston’s only response must be delivered through right hooks.

“It’s frustrating that you guys are trying to do a narrative right now for (expletive) nothing, to be honest. Like, we got to win a (expletive) hockey game. That’s what it comes down to. We have to turn the page. We’ve got to find a way. You can sit here and say I’m not doing my job.

“Maybe, maybe I’m not. But like I said before, I’m damned if I do, I’m damned if I don’t. I don’t want to put my team in jeopardy. I don’t want to take a suspension. I don’t want to put my team on a penalty kill. I’m doing everything I can. … . But I talked to my captain, I talked to the guys in that locker room. They know and they know that I care. That’s the most important thing.”

Officiating, goaltender interference, and sucker punches have largely dominated the narratives in this series.

But with Boston’s season on the line Tuesday night, Maroon stressed that the Bruins need to stay in the moment and not get caught up in whatever bad breaks have befallen them.

“We can sit here and point the finger. And fortunately, that’s not what we’re gonna do today,” Maroon said. “We had a 2-0 lead [in Game 4]. We didn’t give ourselves an opportunity. And we didn’t play good. You just gotta take it like that. We haven’t been playing good.

“Unfortunately, that’s not good enough right now,” he continued. “And we can’t sit there and make excuses and point the finger on who’s to blame. It’s 25 guys in our locker room right now. And we got to figure it out. We got to push. … We’re sitting back on our heels. We’re letting them dictate the play. We got to start dictating the play more, we’re going to start coming out with a little more fire.”