How Brad Marchand Got Cheers From Rival Fans At 4 Nations
Bruins captain Brad Marchand is in unfamiliar territory.
The feisty 5-foot-9 forward, for the first time in his professional career, was not booed when he stepped on the ice at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
In fact, Marchand not only didn’t hear the boos ring down on him when he touched the puck, the Halifax, Nova Scotia native received cheers and accolades.
Marchand took a beauty of a pass from Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brayden Point on a 2-on-1 break to beat Sweden goaltender Filip Gustavsson and give Canada a 2-0 lead at 13:15 of the opening frame of the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“I heard a few boos out there still,” Marchand joked with TNT’s Jackie Redmond during the first intermission. “But no, it’s incredible the way that Canada rallies behind the team. You feel so much love and emotion. You can see how excited they are out there, so it’s been fun to be out there.”
The third line of Marchand, Point and Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis have the most combined (73) goals in the current NHL season entering the tournament.
Canada extended their lead after Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the game with a power-play goal.