The Florida Panthers’ trade-deadline deal for Brad Marchand continues to look better and better by the day.
Marchand stayed hot on Saturday night in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, scoring two goals against the Edmonton Oilers to help put the Panthers a win away from back-to-back championships.
“He’s been leader for us, he’s been scoring big goals for us, and tonight he made a hell of an effort by himself,” Sergei Bobrovsky said postgame.
The pair of goals marked Marchand’s fifth and sixth of the series, making him the first player in NHL history to score five-plus goals in a Stanley Cup Final series for two different teams. When asked what his younger self, who scored five goals in the 2011 Final for the Boston Bruins, would think of where he is today, Marchand responded with the same lighthearted approach that’s defined much of his time in Florida.
“Man, that guy’s good-looking. That’d probably be it,” he joked after the game. “It’s just how it plays out sometimes. Sometimes you get bounces; sometimes you don’t. Definitely, he’d be grateful to be in this opportunity and have another opportunity to be in the Finals and be part of a really good team.”
Marchand kicked off the scoring midway through the first period just seconds after Leon Draisaitl won a faceoff for the Oilers at center ice. He ducked past Mattias Ekholm to steal the puck from under Draisaitl’s skates — helped by a poke from center Anton Lundell — then split two Edmonton defensemen and beat three players in a foot race before shooting on goaltender Calvin Pickard.
His second goal of the night, coming off yet another Draisaitl faceoff win, was arguably even more impressive. This time, the play started in Florida’s zone, and the Oilers briefly gained control off the puck drop, but Eetu Luostarinen was able to chip the puck into the neutral zone off a pass attempt from Edmonton defenseman Jake Walman.
Bolting towards center ice as soon as he saw Luostarinen go for the puck, Marchand was in position to receive the pass before deking around Walman. The dangle left Walman sprawling on the ice, barreling into the net shortly after the puck.
Marchand downplayed his contributions to both highlight-reel goals postgame, chalking them up to chance.
“Sometimes when you cheat, you get lucky,” he told TNT. “That’s just a lucky, lucky play there.”
His teammates, however, were just as wowed by Marchand’s efforts as fans watching from home.
“Those are the goals you look on YouTube when you’re a kid and try to go out and practice yourself,” Lundell said postgame. “We’re all pretty amazed by him.”
Head coach Paul Maurice, too, remarked that — even after watching his play in Boston — he’s been impressed seeing what Marchand can do from up close.
“Clearly…he’s got good hands, but I didn’t fully appreciate the small area things that he can do,” he said. “And that’s the most difficult to do. It’s not the rink-wide pass on the tape that you get excited about. But what he can do under duress in a small area is world-class. It’s as good as I’ve seen.”
Marchand’s second goal proved the game-winner, his third of the postseason and second of the series. He now has 16 career game-winning goals in the playoffs, tying for 10th-most in NHL history.
Now up 3-2 in the series, the Panthers will look to summit the mountaintop on Tuesday with a chance to win the Cup at home in Game 6. Marchand, just months into his Florida tenure and playing on hockey’s biggest stage, is taking the challenge in stride.
“(I’ve) said it a ton of times: we’re just enjoying the moment. It’s a special time, special memories we’re going to have forever,” he said of the Cup run. “So not really nervous, just excited.”
