The Boston Bruins couldn’t avenge their 2023 loss to the Florida Panthers failing to beat them once again in the 2024 NHL playoffs and losing their second-round series 4-2.
Bruins captain Brad Marchand missed two contests with an “upper-body” injury before the Game 6 loss but returned for that matchup on Friday, May 17. Even with him on the ice, Boston lost 2-1 to the Panthers inside TD Garden.
Marchand spoke openly to the media on May 16, before Game 6, and touched on Sam Bennett‘s sucker punch that forced him out of Games 4 and 5. After the Game 6 loss, Marchand spoke even more openly about his return from injury.
“You know, I definitely pushed it getting back,” Marchand told reporters during his postgame media availability on May 17, via NESN. “I wouldn’t say I was upfront about how I felt, but it’s hard to sit out and make the decision to sit out.
“The only reason I got pulled out of that game and the only reason I was in protocol is because doctors forced me into it. So, you know, I got through it.”
Not captured in NESN’s postgame availability video of Marchand, but revealed by The Athletic’s Steve Buckley in a story published on May 18, is Marchand’s admission of “fighting” team doctors regarding his return in time for Game 6.
Buckley says he “leaned in and asked” Marchand if he “did fight the doctors to get back out there?” To that question, Marchand answered, “Umm, yeah, I did,” according to Buckley’s report.
I mean, I did,” Marchand said. “But at the end of the day, that’s their call. I was able to get out for the first and second periods (of Game 3), but they pulled me at that point.”
