Marchand

25/04/2024 05:01

There is certainly a public enemy No. 1 in Toronto after Game 3, and it’s no real shock who it is.

Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who is no stranger to this Maple Leafs fanbase, had quite the game Wednesday, which ended with the Bruins winning 4-2 and taking a 2-1 series lead.

Not only did he score two third-period goals, including the game-winner, Marchand was a thorn in the Maple Leafs side all game long.

But Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe thinks the Bruins captain may have gotten away with some things on Wednesday.

“He gets calls. It’s unbelievable, actually, how it goes,” Keefe said post-game.

Toronto’s coach specifically pointed out Marchand’s battle with Tyler Bertuzzi where he managed to avoid heading to the box despite taking out the Maple Leafs forward in the second period. The Bruins went on to tie the game at 2-2 on the same sequence.

“I don’t think there’s another player in this series that gets away with taking out Bertuzzi’s legs the way that he does,” Keefe said. “There’s not one other player in the series that gets away with that, but he does.

“It’s an art, and he’s elite at it.”

But Keefe doesn’t expect things to change any time soon, and knows his team has to find a way to play through Marchand’s gamesmanship.

“We have to manage our way through that, avoid putting ourselves in situations where he can put us in those spots,” Keefe said. “And as far as his game, I think we’ve managed that pretty well, for the most part. Obviously, tonight, we make a mistake at a key time that allows him to get the winner.”

Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies agreed with his coach.

“He obviously wants to obviously wants to get under our skin and influence the refs,” Knies said of Marchand. “We need to be composed and not get into the bull (expletive) and just play hard, and make him less effective.”

The Maple Leafs’ next chance to limit the Bruins’ captain will come on Saturday in Game 4 which can be seen on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+ at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.