What Brad Marchand said about being benched in OT vs. Ottawa

Bruins

The Bruins desperately needed a spark in additional time against the Senators on Saturday.

But at the same time as Boston opened a two-goal lead against Ottawa within the third period, Brad Marchand didn't touch the ice in the additional frame on the Canadian Tire Centre.

Without Marchand – one in every of the few proven scorers on Boston's roster (16 goals this season, 21 goals in additional time) – the Bruins couldn't get one other puck past Ottawa goaltender Leevi Merilainen en path to a crushing 5-6 shootout loss buried over.

It was an unpleasant result for the Bruins, who held a 5-3 lead with lower than 4 minutes left in regulation. To twist the knife even further, the loss knocked Boston out of the playoffs for the primary time since late November.

After the loss, Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco didn't say much concerning the decision to maintain Marchand off the ice during crucial time – he confirmed that the Bruins captain wasn't injured, but then added that it was a coach's decision.

Speaking Sunday at Warrior Ice Arena, Sacco again declined to elaborate on exactly what led to him benching Marchand after the Sens tied Saturday's game.

“It was just a decision in the game that I made” Sacco said. “Marchy and I agree. So I know he will be – knowing Marchy and the way he prepares and works, he will be ready to go tomorrow [vs. San Jose].

“He’s a real professional so he’ll be ready to go. He's totally there, 100 percent. It was just a game decision that we made.”

As the ultimate rating shows, Saturday's performance was anything but a stellar defensive effort from Boston – including Marchand.

While the 36-year-old captain was removed from the one Bruins player to make a defensive error on Saturday (several missed throws by Elias Lindholm arrange Ottawa's fourth goal), Marchand didn’t cover Josh Norris just seconds ahead of Norris to bring down Jeremy Swayman to force additional time.

Despite the optics that include clinging to the bench, Boston's captain accepted the penalty when asked about Sacco's decision on Sunday.

“He will make the decision based on how he feels these guys are playing every night. So I get it,” Marchand said. “I have to do better… My information wasn’t good enough. In a game like this they have to be just right. And of course overtime is a great opportunity and you have to earn it. It’s part of the game.”

The 2024-25 season has already been a tumultuous one for the Bruins. But the previous few months have been particularly eventful for Marchand in his second season as Boston captain.

Be it Marchand suppressing sports radio speak about an icy relationship with David Pastrnak, being shoved by Jim Montgomery after an on-ice mistake earlier within the season, or recently sitting on the bench – and the Bruins winger needed to be in a single already difficult phase to cope with several distractions 12 months.

Marchand and the Bruins will look to get back on course on Monday after they host the San Jose Sharks in a matinee matchup at TD Garden.

“Obviously we didn’t get the result we should have got. … At this point you can’t change anything, fix a few things and prepare for the next one,” Marchand said. “That's all we can do. We have to keep building.

“There’s still a lot of time left here and I can’t dwell on what happened. You have to look at the things we need to do better, work on them and prepare for the next thing.”