Bruins' Brad Marchand reacts to his five-game suspension

OTTAWA – Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand addressed his five-game suspension on Thursday, saying he respects the league’s decision on the matter and that he’s trying to be a better player.

Marchand was suspended for his elbow to the head of New Jersey Devils’ Marcus Johansson during Tuesday’s game at TD Garden. He suffered a concussion, his second of the season, and he's out indefinitely.

“I’ve been trying to play a certain way for awhile now and it was never my intent to get into a situation like this, to injure Marcus, so hopefully he has a full healthy recovery very quickly. I’m sorry I let my teammates down and I let the organization down. I have to be better, there’s no question," Marchand said.

The Bruins are in the midst of a 17-game point streak (13-0-4) and Marchand's line, along with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, is the best in the league.

“The last thing I want to do is do anything to hurt the team and that’s obviously what I’ve done here,” Marchand said. “Again, it wasn’t what I was trying to do. We have a great team and they’re going to battle hard and do everything they can to win the games. I’ll be there routing them on, but I put my team at a disadvantage again and I feel very bad about that.”

Marchand was named to the All-Star team this season and will participate in the festivities this weekend in Tampa, despite his suspension.

“I’m going to go,” he said. “I’m very proud of that opportunity. It’s something I’ve worked very hard for and never thought I’d have the opportunity to do, so it’s something I’m very proud of and I’m going to go and enjoy every second of it.”

After the team's morning skate at Canadian Tire Centre, Marchand had an on-ice conversation with Bruce Cassidy. The coach discussed with Marchand his lasting legacy on the game and it hit home. This is the sixth time Marchand has been suspended for a total of 19 games and has forfeited nearly $900,000 in salary.

“Obviously I want to be known as a good player,” Marchand said. “I’ve worked very hard to become a decent player in this league and things like this hinder that and it’s something I’ve been trying to work very hard to get away from. If you look at my game all year long, if you speak to the refs, I’ve taken a big step this year and taken another step away from that game, so it’s something I’ll continue to work on and be better at, but (Cassidy’s) not wrong; some things behind the scenes get lost when things like this happen, but my teammates and the organization, my family and friends, they know what I’m trying to do and where I’m trying to be and how much I care about this team, the organization, the guys in the room and that’s not going to change. I need to be better in areas and I’m going to continue to work on that.”

The Bruins face the Senators tonight and Ottawa's Zack Smith is fine with Marchand out of the lineup.

"There just seems to be those few guys in the league that don't have a lot of respect for other guys' safety," Smith said.

Marchand said he understands other players' comments on his suspension.

“He’s entitled to his opinion and that’s fine,” Marchand said. “I don’t disrespect him for that at all. Things happen fast out there and maybe early on I was trying to make a name for myself and the game was played a little different when I came in and I could have changed a little quicker than I did, but I respect every player out there as much as the guys on my team.”

Marchand, Bergeron and Pastrnak have combined for 135 points in 46 games this season. As a result of Marchand's suspension, the Bruins recalled forward Anders Bjork from Providence and he will start on Boston's top line.

“No question we’re disappointed to lose him,” Bergeron said. “He’s a big part of our offense, big part of our team and we’re going to miss him. We’ll have to do the job without him and we’ve done that this year anytime someone’s gone down, you have to rally and be good as a team. It’s definitely disappointing.”

Cassidy said he believed Marchand had no intent to injury Johansson on the play.

“I always respect what the league decides; they’ve been doing this for awhile,” Cassidy said. “We always have our opinion. I don’t believe there was any intent to injury Johansson, but Brad’s responsible for his actions on the ice and the league dealt with it. We’ll talk to him about it and hopefully going forward there are no more incidents, because Brad’s earned a lot of respect around the league in terms of how he plays the game and he plays it hard every night. For the most part, he’s kept his nose clean and unfortunately it was a situation where he’s in a lot of traffic and the league decided to make their ruling on it and that’s it.”

Marchand has become an elite player in the NHL and the Bruins don't want him to change the style of his game.

“I don’t,” Cassidy said. “He doesn’t want to. It’s just figuring out some of the little things here and there that he’ll have to do going forward. He’s done a good job with it for the most part, but in this instance the league saw it differently and he’ll sit for five.

“I’ve known Brad since he was a first-year player, so I know him as a person. I hear opinions out there but they don’t know him as a teammate, as a father and the work he puts in to be a better player. After games, he’s always with children in the family room, signing (autographs). He’s just a great person with a big heart and that’s the part that sometimes gets lost in all this with certain opinions you hear. Brad does have to take responsible for his actions and he’s aware of that.”

Marchand will return to the lineup on Feb. 7 against the New York Rangers.