OTTAWA — It seems only fitting that Brad Marchand’s goal to take over fifth place on the Boston Bruins’ all-time goal scoring list be a game winner.
Marchand scored at 1:48 of the overtime period to lead his Bruins to a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
With his 396th goal, Marchand -- with five goals in four games -- passed Ray Bourque for fifth in all time goals scored by a Bruin.
“It’s special,” said Marchand. “I try not to think too much about it, but it’s special. I never thought my career would come this far and some of the things that have gone on would have happened.
"I’ve been extremely fortunate and very lucky to be part of a group that’s had a lot of success and a lot of phenomenal guys to learn from.”
It was also his 19th career overtime goal, tying him with Jaromir Jagr for the third most in NHL history, behind Alex Ovechkin (26) and Sidney Crosby (20).
The Bruins (30-9-9) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals from David Pastrnak and Trent Frederic before the Senators came back and tied it, but despite playing the back end of a back-to-back were able to leave the nation’s capital with a win.
“I think the biggest thing is finishing off a game that looked like an uphill battle sometimes,” said Jeremy Swayman, who made 35 saves. “And it’s really special to get a back-to-back and finish it in overtime so huge congrats to (Marchand) passing some pretty great names. So really, really good feel-good win for us.”
The Senators (18-24-2), who have struggled for much of the season, will likely take comfort in holding their own against one of the league’s best despite falling short.
Ottawa failed to capitalize on two power play opportunities in the first period, while Boston scored just three seconds into its power play at 18:36. Pastrnak beat Joonas Korpisalo, who stopped 21 shots, from just inside the blueline on the Bruins third shot of the opening fram.
Boston extended its lead at 8:19 of the second with Frederic beating Korpisalo high blocker. The Senators managed to cut the lead to one with a late power-play goal.
Drake Batherson made a backhand pass to Chabot who snapped a shot past Swayman for his second of the season.
Ottawa tied the game with a second power-play goal at 16:42 of the third when Tarasenko wired a shot that blew past Swayman to make it 2-2.
“Drake (Batherson) did 99 percent of the job,” said Tarasenko. “He made a very good screen and the goalie can’t see and left the corner open.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery wasn’t overly impressed with the discrepancy in power plays.
“I don’t think we dodged a bullet; I think we took about eight bullets,” said Montgomery. “They had six power plays we had one. That is one-sided.”
If anything, Ottawa was disappointed it couldn’t capitalize on its earlier chances with the man advantage and take advantage of a Bruins team who had played the night before.
That’s one of the best teams in the league and they’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember,” said Chabot.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. … we just hung in there. I mean, at the end of the day, yes, the power play was frustrating for all of us, but you know what, we stuck with it and we ended up tying the game with two power play goals.”
With points in its last five games (3-0-2) the Senators have been showing signs of consistency,
“It’s disappointing to lose a point, but I thought we stuck with it,” said Senators interim head coach Jacques Martin. “I thought we persevered and played the right way most of the time. They’re a good team. They’re a top team. We had our opportunities.”
NOTES
Thursday marked Shane Pinto’s home debut after serving his 41-game suspension ... Ottawa D Travis Hamonic missed out with an upper body injury, while Dominik Kubalik and Zack MacEwen were a healthy scratch ... The Bruins Matthew Poitras was a healthy scratch.
UP NEXT:
Ottawa hosts the New York Rangers Saturday, Jan. 27
Boston heads to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers Saturday, Jan. 27
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 25, 2024.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press