The last time Marchand scored twice or more in a game was on Dec. 26 when he recorded his first NHL career hat trick against Florida.
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View full sizeBoston Bruins forward Brad Marchand (63) celebrates his third period goal with linemates Tyler Seguin (19) and Patrice Bergeron (37).There were many odds stacked up against the Boston Bruins Wednesday night in St. Louis, but in the end, they moved one step closer in the right direction to finding their true identity - the one they held during November and December.
Boston's 4-2 win over the Blues was huge in so many ways and perhaps its biggest win of the season thus far. St. Louis hadn't lost in regulation at home since Dec. 3 and went 18-0-3 during that stretch with four shutouts. The most goals it surrendered was four in a 6-4 win over Columbus on Dec. 18 and allowed three goals twice to Dallas (Dec. 26) and Edmonton (Jan. 5).
So when the Bruins netted three of their four scores in the opening period to take a 3-2 lead into the first intermission at the Scottrade Center, there was hope that they could become the team to snap St. Louis' ridiculous streak and also make the game the turning point of their ongoing struggles.
Scoring has been an issue as of late with the Bruins as strange as that sounds. Miraculously they still hold a plus-60 goal differential (goal scored minus goals surrendered), which is +17 better than the next best team in the league, the New York Rangers (+43). The last time Boston found the back of the net four times in regulation was a 4-1 win over the Washington Capitals on Feb. 5. Following that performance, they were held scoreless three times and scraped by twice in 4-3 shootout decisions over Nashville and Montreal.
Bruins head coach Claude Julien dubbed it a good team win citing there were no heros, but if we had to pick someone who stepped up his game, it's forward Brad Marchand.
Marchand, like many of his teammates, came in with a six-game goal drought, but you wouldn't have known this as he quickly gave Boston a 1-0 lead 2:29 in then sealed it with the last tally of the game at 9:14 in the third. The last time he recorded two or more goals was when he recorded his first NHL hat trick in an 8-0 defeat over the visiting Florida Panthers before the holiday break. His tallies tied his career-high (21) and he already set a new mark in assists (21) with 24 games to go.
The Bruins now have three 20 or more goal scorers who include Marchand and forwards Milan Lucic (21) and Tyler Seguin (20). Center Patrice Bergeron is on the verge with 17 goals as well as Nathan Horton, but he may be stuck there as news leaked Monday that he's not close to returning according to a source close to him.
Next up is Buffalo where the Bruins were embarrassed just six games and 15 days ago in 6-0 fashion.
I'm sensing some major payback will be in store Friday and it should be a doozy.
Amanda Bruno can be reached at abruno@repub.com
