After squandering a 3-1 lead in their 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Boston Bruins will now have to sit on their disappointing defeat for a couple of weeks before the NHL restarts its regular season. While panic is setting in in Beantown, captain Brad Marchand made one thing clear to Joe Sacco and his teammates as they eagerly await the return to action following the Four Nations Face-Off.
The Bruins have lost their last two games before the two-week hiatus, and while fans may be distracted by the best-on-best international competition, the sour taste left in their mouths is still evident. TD Garden will host several games of the tournament, including the Championship Game, but Bruins fans are only focused on their team righting the ship.
Boston is now sitting two spots behind the last wildcard berth, and the tight race for the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the East is a major concern for Sacco and the Bruins. Marchand has been a strong voice in the team’s locker room all season, delivering harsh statements when necessary and offering calming messages at other times. The 37-year-old captain chose the latter approach after the loss to the bona fide contender, the Golden Knights.
“I think we can play with anybody,” Brad Marchand firmly stated postgame, per Boston.com. “The difference in the game is very small margins, small details, so we just have to clean it up a little. And we’ve seen a lot of — pretty much everyone at this point — and I don’t think there’s anybody that we can’t play with.”
Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins prepares to take the ice prior to playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park on January 02, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts.
Marchand scored a goal in the 4-3 loss to Vegas, but it wasn’t enough as Boston collapsed in the third period, allowing a late go-ahead goal from Tomas Hertl that proved to be the difference in a highly contested matchup.
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Zadorov’s bold ultimatum
While Marchand’s statement is clear and reassuring for Sacco and his teammates, urging them to stay confident in the team’s abilities, not everyone seemed to be on the same page after the loss to the Golden Knights.
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov was certainly unaware of Marchand’s statement when he addressed the media postgame, issuing a bold message to his teammates and signaling that the season is reaching its doomsday.
“It’s do or die for us,” Zadorov stated, per Boston.com. “We wasted the last two games, four points. It could cost us. Or could not. We’ll see.”
Boston Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco smiles at his news conference following their 1-0 win over the Utah Hockey Club at TD Garden on November 21, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
More tough news for Marchand
While putting on the Maple Leaf jersey and representing Canada in the upcoming international contest is a dream come true for Marchand, the Nova Scotian talent has learned some bad news as head coach Jon Cooper decided to leave him off the all-Nova Scotia line alongside superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon.
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Marchand, however, cannot complain as he will be playing on a line with talents like Brayden Point and Seth Jarvis.
