Days after sending Captain Brad Marchand to Florida at the trade deadline, the Boston Bruins will host the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers in the team’s fourth and last regular seasonal meeting on Tuesday evening.
Marchand is week to week with an upper body injury, but was revealed at his first press conference as a Panther that he could skate as soon as Tuesday while joining his new team for the beginning of a six-game.
Before Boston returned to Boston, Marchand shared good memories from his time with Bruins, with whom he had played the entire 16-year-old NHL career before the shocking trade.
“I wanted to stay there, but at the end of the day I know this is a company and every player has a sustainability whether it was when we wanted it to be or not,” Marchand said. “I am grateful in addition to words for everything the organization has done to me.”
Marchand joins the last 4 nations’ face-off-teammates Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart with Florida, who have won six straight and eight of their last nine. Saturday’s 4-0 victory over Buffalo Sabers was its third suspension in four matches.
The latest game saw colleague Florida -Newcomers Vitek Vanecek and Nico Sturm – who were both San Jose Sharks before – debuting.
“Age has something to do with it because if you spend enough time in your career, you will learn to value the opportunity. It’s hard to join to play on a good team that has a chance,” Panther’s coach Paul Maurice said. “The older they get, the more they appreciate it.”
Vanecek hit a 21 rescue in his first game as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup, while Sturm was solid in 11:23 by Ice Time which included 2:03 on the penalty death.
“I think the system is good for me and how I play,” Sturm said. “I think it’s straight hockey. That’s the way I’ve been playing my entire career.”
In his first game after the deadline, Bruins only earned his second victory in 10 matches (2-6-2), a 4-0 victory over Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
Two days earlier, Bruins was locked up in a tie game with the host Carolina Hurricanes before receiving a painful loss at the last minute, giving up an immediate goal from a turnover when defender Nikita Zadorov’s stick broke against a clearing attempt.
“If you continue to play as we have the last pairs of games, the bouncers will go your way eventually. We got a little (against Tampa) … and we could expand our lead,” said Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco. “It doesn’t necessarily mean you can breathe more easily (within a game), but it sometimes helps your psyche.”
That’s exactly what Bruins needs. In addition to Marchand, all Charlie Coyle, Brandon Carlo and Justin Brazeau were shared on Friday to Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota Wild respectively. Trent Frederic became Edmonton Oiler earlier last week.
Goalkeeper Jeremy Swayman-who stopped 26 shots on the way to only the second suspension of Tampa Bay this season-wheat that Bruins still has a job to do to chase down a joke sign, but to see teammates go stick.
“It was the human side of things that I think was the biggest conversation we all had (after trade) and just understand that even if it is a company, it is guys that you love,” Swayman said. “The fact that we can’t continue playing together, making memories and pushing through is devastating.”
Against Tampa Bay, Cole Koepke twice to the left of the newly acquired center Casey Mittelstadt and Vinni Lettieri, a trio of native in Minnesota.
“Three Minnesota guys come the entire circle and play together in the NHL,” Koepke said. “It’s pretty cool.”
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