Marchand sent clear message to Canadiens, and Montgomery ‘loved’ it originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The lottery-bound Montreal Canadiens tried to muck it up with the Boston Bruins on Thursday night. But Brad Marchand was having none of it.
In the first period of Montreal’s visit to TD Garden, Canadiens center Rem Pitlick delivered a high, dangerous hit to Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron away from the puck. Marchand saw the hit and immediately took action, jumping Pitlick and wrestling him to the ice while throwing a few haymakers.
While Marchand’s actions put Boston on the penalty kill, the veteran forward sent a clear message to Montreal that hits on Bergeron won’t go unpunished. And Marchand’s head coach is fully on board with that message.
“You don’t hit our captain. That was a 3-second late hit,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said after the game, via Mass Live. “I loved the fact that Marchand made the guy pay a price for doing it.”
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Marchand is a 14-year veteran and one of Boston’s most talented offensive players, but he still doesn’t hesitate to mix it up with opponents and defend his teammates at every turn. That mindset left an impression on new Bruins forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who was acquired from Detroit earlier this month.
“Everyone sticks up for each other in here. Especially Bergy the captain,” Bertuzzi said. “Marchy did a good job getting in there, sticking up for him.”
Marchand has crossed the line at times over the years and put the Bruins at a disadvantage with his extracurriculars after the whistle. But this was an instance where Marchand’s feisty side benefited the B’s by sending a message that his team won’t be trifled with.
Boston also took care of business on the ice, skating to a 4-2 win to improve to 55-11-5.
