Since the beginning of November, there has been no better team in the NHL than the Boston Bruins. One of the key reasons for the Bruins' success has been the brilliant play of the second line. Patrice Bergeron, Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand have combined the perfect amount of skill, will and speed to be more effective than the underachieving first line (Nathan Horton, Milan Lucic and David Krejci).
Marchand has played a big role in his team's two victories last week, scoring the game-winner versus Montreal and then registering a hat trick in the Bruins' 8-0 laugher Friday night against the Florida Panthers.
The former fourth line "grinder", Marchand has worked his way up the Bruins depth chart, landing on the second line midway through last season. His gritty play in the playoffs, namely in Games Six and Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals helped endear himself to Bruins fans for life. Marchand is one of the most popular players on the team and he brings the same level of intensity to each and every shift.
Marchand has been aided by playing with Bergeron, one of the smartest players in the league as well as Seguin, who has been outstanding for the better part of this season. Given the energy and speed of the second line, it is clear that Marchand is benefiting from playing with like-minded players.
Marchand has 29 points so far this year (15 goals, 14 assists) and is a plus 25, helping the Bruins extend their NHL best scoring differential to +56.
Tweet
Follow @RyanBurns88
No comments:
Post a Comment