Leaders step up when the team needs them, and that’s exactly what Brad Marchand has done over the last couple of games for his Bruins.
In the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime on Saturday, Marchand scored the game-winning goal for Boston, and on Sunday, he was the hero of the game once again, scoring a natural hat trick against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Bruins looked slow to start the game, and starting the third period, they trailed the Blue Jackets 1-0.
The Bruins tied the game 1:56 into the third, as a Marchand shot deflected off Zach Werenski’s stick, and just two minutes later, Marchand scored his and the Bruins’ second goal of the game with a power-play goal from the high slot.
Marchand completed his hat trick from the left side at 7:46 for his second power-play goal of the night, which also meant Marchand scored from all three sides of the ice. It was his first career natural hat trick.
“They don’t come often,” Marchand said. “It’s just sometimes how it goes. Sometimes you get the bounces, sometimes you don’t.”
The TD Garden, as tradition says, made it rain with hats, and Brad Marchand didn’t hesitate about which one he picked as his new one.
Marchand said he first had his eyes on a camel one, but when he spotted a Santa hat, he took it up and gave it to a Bruins’ equipment person on the bench.
Videos from the crowd posted on social media showed Marchand’s hilarious choice, and post-game, he explained why he picked a seemingly ordinary-looking Santa hat out of all the hats that rained in.
“I saw a nice camel one that I went after right away,” Marchand said. “Then someone saw a Santa hat. I’m a huge Christmas guy. It was a no-brainer.”
