When it was all said and done, Brad Marchand got the last laugh and the last good emotional cry in his triumphant return to Boston as a Stanley Cup-winning member of the Florida Panthers.
The 37-year-old Marchand didn’t waste any time assisting on the first goal of the game for the Panthers in the first period, and then came the waterworks as the Bruins pulled out all the stops for a video welcoming him back to Boston during the first TV timeout of the first period at the Garden.
The ovation was the loudest and longest this humble hockey writer can ever remember for a returning Bruins player, and it was justly deserved for an iconic player during his 15 seasons in Black and Gold.
“I knew it was gonna hit me the way it did,” said Marchand with a laugh. “It was extremely touching. I am so grateful for that moment, and appreciative for the Bruins to put that together and for the love and support that the fans have shown me. Not just tonight but for my entire career here.
“I always loved playing here and loved putting the jersey on and wearing my heart on my sleeve. This is a hard-working city and people appreciate that. I love the fans here and they are special. It was a very, very special night for me and my family. I was trying not to cry, but as soon as I saw my kids on the screen it kinda hit me like a ton of bricks. The memories, the emotions and the years and years of incredible times just come pouring into my memory. Careers go by past and to see a snapshot of that brings everything back, and the amount of pride I have that I played for this organization. I just couldn’t hold it in.”
Tears in his eyes. Longest ovation I can remember for a returning Bruins player to the Garden. Pretty cool pic.twitter.com/tdFmZ5fXkV
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) October 22, 2025
Then came the game afterward, and that was where Marchand got to skate away with his trademark smirk after the Panthers once again pulled the rug out from under the B’s scoring a game-winning goal in the final minute of the third, and just moments after Morgan Geekie had struck for an emotional game-tying score with the goalie pulled.
It was the fourth one-goal loss of the season for the Black and Gold and continues a pattern where they are just coming up a little short in these games against quality opponents.
“It sucks but you can’t sit on it. Does it happen a little too often? Yes. But showing fight is a positive every night. Butat the same time you are going to question why you are in that position every night and most of the nights it is our own doing.
“I know it’s early, but we just need to remember how we played early on. When the losses get stuck up on each other, it always gets harder to get that win. But we’re going to have to put that together and it’s going to take a team effort. We’re going to have to come back to work tomorrow and fix those mistakes.”
There were positives for the Black and Gold, of course. Casey Mittelstadt authored a great response after being a healthy scratch and helped set up Boston’s game-tying goal with a slick net-front pass (his second primary assist of the game) to Geekie for the game-tying strike.
And the Bruins battled back from a couple of deficits to put themselves in position for an overtime point, at the very least, after putting together a very strong third period after a so-so opening 40 minutes.
But there were also some concerning developments as well, as there always are when a team falls short for the fifth straight game at the NHL level.
First and foremost was the injured absence of Hampus Lindholm, who wasn’t able to play on Tuesday after returning for one game on the road trip and then not being able to play the second game of the back-to-back in what sounds like the lower-body injury is a lingering one for the stalwart defenseman. And one has to wonder if it is in any way connected to last season's kneecap issues given the way things have rolled out to open this season.
Then defenseman Jordan Harris was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday morning, and Michael Callahan was called up from Providence in a further test of Boston’s solid depth on the back end.
But most concerning of all was the play of Mason Lohrei, who was twice exposed defensively when he was just flat-out not strong enough on his stick in key areas of the D-zone. On the first play, a defensive zone face-off win came directly to him in front of the Boston net, and a Panthers player was able to knock the puck off his stick to a waiting AJ Greer for an easy goal at the Boston net.
On the second play, Lohrei was engaged in a battle with Eetu Luostiranen after a stretch pass from Brad Marchand, and Lohrei simply couldn’t physically bother Luostiranen enough to keep him from getting off a quality shot. Instead, the Panthers forward was able to seal off Lohrei physically and then snap off a quick shot under the bar that Swayman was not able to react to quickly enough.
Lohrei really didn’t play at all after that point in the third period and finished with a season-low 13:45 of ice time. Some of it was obviously on him for not being stout enough in the defensive zone as a 6-foot-5 defenseman that should have the tools to adequately defend, but it’s also a reflection of Lohrei again playing a bigger role in this defensive group because Lindholm is again missing with injury.
“Absolutely. Those two goals…you can’t deny it,” said Marco Sturm, when asked if the Lohrei miscues were teachable moments. “Those were on him. We have to try to correct it and help him, and make sure he’s not going to do it again. That’s for sure.
“For some reason we have those moments [where we allow goals]. But I looked at all of them and they are all individual mistakes. They either come from our stick, or today from our foot, or maybe it comes from a stupid penalty or something like that. That’s the good part is that it has nothing to do with structure. But when it rains, it rains hard. But the good thing is that [when] it comes from individual mistakes, I always believe those mistakes can be fixed.”
One continuous “mistake” for these Bruins is that they always find ways to lose games to two-time Cup champs from Florida, and unfortunately for them that continued on Tuesday in Marchand’s emotional return to the Hub.