Bruins Notes: Brad Marchand Voices Gripe With Refs After Loss To Jets

Bruins captain Brad Marchand contributed one of two goals Boston scored in a deflating defeat to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night at TD Garden.

But his offensive output ultimately was offset by three penalties, which included a 10-game misconduct for arguing with officials in the third period over a high-sticking call on teammate Brandon Carlo.

Two of the infractions Marchand committed resulted in power-play goals for the Jets. Marchand’s interference penalty with three seconds left in the second period was particularly costly as Winnipeg’s elite power play cashed in 24 seconds after Elias Lindholm leveled the score to start a stretch of four unanswered goals.

Marchand, who was also called for a cross-check in the first period, believed he shouldn’t have been sent off the ice on either occasion.

“I gave him a little bump. I think he went down easy,” Marchand told reporters of his interference penalty, per team-provided video. “Same with the first one. It’s a push. When you look at those and then you look at some of the ones they let go on (David Pastrnak). It is what it is. Can’t change it.”

Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco defended Marchand for his interference penalty. Sacco saw Marchand trying to inject life into the Bruins in a physical manner to rally them against the NHL-best Jets. But the intended result didn’t exactly come the Bruins’ way.

“I think he’s trying to impact the game physically,” Sacco told reporters, per team-provided video. “The timing of it, toward the end of the period, you don’t want to go into the box at that situation. It’s a tight hockey game. He’s trying to impact the game physically and be hard and show that we want to be invested in the game physically. Unfortunately, the penalty was what it is.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Jets game:

— Charlie McAvoy, who earned a 4 Nations Face Off honor prior to the game, made his return to the Bruins lineup after missing seven straight games. The Bruins star defenseman logged 21:41 of ice time in the loss and finished as a minus-3. The contest also marked McAvoy’s 500th career game.

“Really excited to be back,” McAvoy told reporters, per team-provided video. “I think there was certainly some good, some mistakes, too. But it felt good. Legs feel good. I’m excited to just continue to go from here, only get better.”

— Pastrnak continued his offensive tear by extending his point streak to nine games. He assisted on Marchand’s power-play goal in the first period. Pastrnak owns seven goals and 11 assists over that span.

— Joonas Korpisalo got his first start in a week and allowed five goals on 26 shots (.808 save percentage). He wasn’t helped by Mason Lohrei on Winnipeg’s second of four third-period goals when the Bruins defenseman carried the puck in front of Boston’s net and turned it over.

“It’s a good forecheck but we have to make the right decision there with the puck,” Sacco said. “We can’t cut into the front of the goalie. We have to make the smart, reliable play in that situation.”

— It was a memorable NHL debut for Parker Ford, who hails from Wakefield, R.I. The Jets forward scored 5:56 into the third period in front of family and friends who were in attendance to see the Providence College product’s first game in the league.

“I was just really focusing on playing my game tonight and helping the team win,” Ford told reporters, per WEEI’s Bridgette Proulx. “Now I can go see the fam and celebrate a little bit.”

— The Bruins had some history made against them thanks to Winnipeg star Mark Scheifele. Scheifele scored two goals, giving him 328 on his career to tie Ilya Kovalchuk atop the Jets-Thrashers all-time list.

— The Bruins look to get back into the win column when they take on the New York Rangers on Saturday. Puck drop from TD Garden is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ABC. The Bruins return to NESN airwaves next Tuesday when they host the Minnesota Wild.