Marchand spearheading Bruins' leadership without Bergeron, Krejci

Brad Marchand has zero penalty minutes in the playoffs, so far.

You read that correctly. 

The same Marchand with 141 penalty minutes in 143 playoff games, who racked up 40 in 25 games in his first playoff run in 2010-11. The same man who low-bridged Daniel Sedin and fed him gloved lefts in the 2011 final. The "Rat King" who once licked two foes, Leo Komarov and Ryan Callahan, in a matter of weeks during the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Patrice Bergeron has missed the first four games of the first-round series against the Florida Panthers, and David Krejci has been out the last two.

In their place, the leadership onus has fallen onto Marchand, who is perhaps destined to don the 'C' once Bergeron eventually hangs up his skates.

"Our guys have done a really good job trying to play between the whistles," Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday. "We've talked about it internally that we think Brad has done a really, really good job of taking a leadership role. He's an important player for our club on the ice, and now obviously with Patrice and David being out, I think he's assumed a lot of those responsibilities and done a heck of a job."

Bergeron will return to practice with the team on Tuesday after skating on his own over the course of the last week. Krejci underwent testing Monday. His status grows more uncertain. 

"I have [seen Marchand take on more responsibility]," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after Game 1. "He's been excellent, as has the other guys. Everybody knows you don't fill Patrice's shoes with one person, but he's taken the lead. I've heard his voice more in the locker room between periods and also the daily times where I'm walking into the locker room to talk about what we're going to do in practice. Usually Patrice is talking, and I hear Brad talking now. 

"He's taken it upon himself and he's a great leader. I've said all year, we're blessed in leadership qualities."

The Bruins have emphasized 'playing between the whistles' throughout the series. There was a time not too long ago when Marchand would be one to get his pound of flesh. The Panthers have sought to goad Boston into their antics during stoppages. For the most part, the Bruins and Marchand, in particular, haven't fallen into the trap. He was in the pile-up behind Ullmark's net after the first period in Game 4 when Tkachuk delivered a cross-check to Garnet Hathaway's back, rather than retaliate, Marchand let Tkachuk take the only penalty. Boston scored on that power play to begin the second period.

"They seem to thrive on that. They build a lot of emotion in their game after whistles and creating scrums. A lot of guys gain momentum from that," Marchand said following a 6-2 win in Sunday's Game 4 to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. "Hasn't really been the way that we've played all year, so when we can play hard between the whistles and then kind of skate away, it allows us to stay in the right mindset to play the way that we want to play."

The Bruins and Panthers have combined for 194 penalty minutes through the first four games of the series, 92 of which came in Game 2 before 70 in Game 4. Boston has 113 of them. Again, there's Marchand with zero. 

"[The Panthers] play a very high-emotion game, all the way through," he said. "They're very physical. They like to get into it after whistles. A lot of guys talking, and that's their game. They've had a lot of success doing that. We've had success playing the way we play. We just have to remember to stick to that."

It was a frustrating regular season for Marchand. The emotional heartbeat of the Bruins, No. 63 had to play himself into shape after double hip surgery in the offseason. Coming back from such a procedure is no easy feat or any athlete, let alone a 34-year-old star.

As the regular season wound down, Marchand voiced his frustrations with where he was at with his individual game, and he refused to sit out games in an effort to sharpen up or what is expected to be a deep playoff run. 

"I thought I'd feel better now, than I do, to be honest," Marchand told reporters on March 8. "I think it's been really relieving that we have the team that we have and we're as deep as we are because it takes a lot of pressure off. I thought I'd be kind of where I was last year right now, and I don't necessarily feel like that. So, I still have a little ways to go before playoffs. Surgery-wise it was by far the best decision I made, you know, for the longevity of my career."

The season after hip surgery can often be a wash for a player, again let alone one on the wrong side of 30 having it on both hips. Even then, Marchand was still effective with 21 goals and 67 points in 73 games in what was a "down" year for his standards after had been well over a point per game for six consecutive seasons.

Fast forward a little more than a month and the winger has four points (three goals) in four games to kick off the postseason, including a shorthanded goal after what was his first season as a full-time NHL player without finding the back of the net when a man-down at least once. 

Marchand has continued to be a critical play-driver for Boston, no matter who has centered he and Jake DeBrusk, whether it be Pavel Zacha or Charlie Coyle. 

On the series as a whole, the Bruins have out-attempted Florida 99-71 (58.24 percent) with Marchand on the ice in all situations, second to only Zacha and ahead of DeBrusk. Actual shots on goal have favored Boston by 60.67 percent (54-35) with No. 63 on the ice, again second only to Zacha. Scoring chances have gone their way by a 45-31 edge (59.21) and high-danger looks are 21-16 (56.76). 

He's created 14 individual scoring chances for himself, tied with Tyler Bertuzzi, for the most among the B's. The physical aspect of his game has been impactful, yet between the whistles, most importantly, exemplified by a crunching reverse-hit on the much larger Marc Staal in Game 4. 

It's safe to say Marchand is back. 

"Brad holds himself to a really high standard, and he's earned that right," Sweeney said. "In fact, he's been one of the best left-wingers in the National Hockey League for a number of years now. He went through a very difficult off-season for what would be normal for him. Then the wear and tear. He refused to necessarily come out of games, and you think of maybe trying to play through things and having those conversations. 

"But you know, he's just a driven person. He wants to compete at the highest level. He found other ways to make sure that he was contributing, even if it wasn't necessarily on the scoresheet."

He got the scoring started in Game 4 on a hard drive to the net, spotting the loose puck, bulldozing his way around Gustav Forsling and jamming it home amid the chaos among Sergei Bobrovsky. Two more of Boston's six tallies, both off DeBrusk's stick, came from having a nose for the net. The B's have made a living around the crease so far against the Cats. Coyle and Foligno cashed in around the doorstep in Game 3, as did DeBrusk, Bertuzzi, David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall in Games 1 and 2. 

"It's something that we've harped on all year. I think it's why we have scored a lot of goals during the year," Montgomery said Saturday. "It was a concerted effort by our leaders to show the way, and I think everybody else followed."

Marchand continued that standard in Game 4.

It's all come with even more attention and expectations thrown his way as the Bruins have forged ahead without their two most-tenured skaters, Bergeron and Krejci.

"I definitely feel a little bit more pressure in the leadership standpoint," Marchand said Saturday. "When they're around, I feel a lit more comfortable just kind of being in my role. When they're not, it's hard to fill that void. They're two incredible leaders on and off the ice, and they're big holes that you're not going to fill. It definitely falls on the rest of us that are stepping into that role at some point, to take over and lead a little more by example and take control of that room."

While the focal point, Marchand hasn't had to shoulder it all completely. 

"It helps having guys like Fliggy, who have been captains before, and you know, Chuckie McAvoy is trying to take that next step to be a good leader," Marchand added Saturday. "It especially helps having him back in the D corps to do that, but you do it by committee. That's why you see guys like Coyle step up, and Pasta had a big night [in Game 3]. Hall had a big night. When you do it by committee, it makes it a lot easier to fill that void, but definitely feel a lot more pressure in that instance, yeah."

Whether it's been a rise of someone like the younger McAvoy already in-house or experienced veterans brought in during recent years, the Bruins have created even more of a foundation under Bergeron and Krejci, with Marchand leading that second wave.

"He's got a lot of support behind him in Nick [Foligno] and [Dmitry Orlov], who's won the Stanley Cup," Sweeney said. "A lot of guys who are trying to do all of the things on and off the ice. It takes each day. It's a game-by-game thing, trying to play to our standards."