Brad Marchand makes thoughts known after Bruins squander back-to-back games in loss to VGK

Brad Marchand spoke to the media about Boston Bruins loss to Vegas Golden Knights (Source: Imagn)

Captain Brad Marchand spoke to the media after the Boston Bruins lost their second straight game, falling 4-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at TD Garden. The loss dropped them to 27-24-6, placing them sixth in the Atlantic Division and three points outside a playoff spot.

Vegas outshot Boston 38-24 and scored on two of four power plays. Boston won 55.7% of faceoffs but took 15 penalty minutes, while Vegas had nine.

Bruins captain Brad Marchand said that the team can compete with anyone but needs to focus on details.

“We can play with anybody,” Marchand said. “The difference in the games are very small margins, small details, so we just need to clean it up a little bit. I think we can play with anybody, and we’ve seen pretty much everyone at this point.”

He said that they must return from the break with the right mindset and play “do-or-die hockey” for the rest of the season.

“We have to come back (from the break) with the right mindset,” Marchand added.

“A few days before our first game (back), we have to make sure we get back, work hard, get back in shape and then we need to play do-or-die hockey the rest of the year.”

The Brad Marchand will try to bounce back after the 4 Nations Face-off break as they push for a playoff spot. Brad Marchand has scored 20 goals this season for 44 points in 57 games. He will be representing Team Canada in the 4 Nations tournament alongside the likes of Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.

Brad Marchand expected a strong push from the Knights after the first-period

Brad Marchand scored early to give Boston a 1-0 lead. Nikita Zadorov made it 2-0 before Mark Stone scored on the power play, making the score 2-1 at the end of the first period.

“They pushed and we sat back a little bit,” Marchand said (via NHL.com). “We knew they would be better in the second and third and they were. We got caught sitting back a little bit, and a team like that will make you pay.”

Goalie Jeremy Swayman made 34 saves but couldn’t stop the Knights’ offense.

“I thought we did a good job of managing their pushes,” Swayman said, “It’s something we need to control, and I have no doubt in this group that we will.”

Morgan Geekie extended Boston’s lead to 3-1, but Zach Whitecloud cut it to 3-2 late in the second period. Pavel Dorofeyev tied the game in the third before Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner on the power play with 1:10 left.