In a complete surprise to many, Brad Marchand returned to the Boston Bruins lineup on Thursday night way earlier than expected and didn’t take long to make a difference. Marchand scored two goals and also had an assist as the Bruins improved on their NHL best record with a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings at TD Garden.
Marchand, who had offseason hip surgery and was expected to be out until at least Thanksgiving, helped assist on the first goal of the night. Charlie Coyle coming off the bench received a drop pass from Derek Forbort and dragged the puck through the high slot and fired a wrister that beat Detroit goalie Ville Husso far side at 13:42 of the first period. Marchand scored his first of the night at 11:53 of the second period on the powerplay to make it 2-0, beating Husso from the left faceoff circle over the shoulder glove side. The Red Wings (3-2-2) sliced it to 2-1 on a goal from Adam Erne at 18:49. The Bruins put it away with three goals in a span of 1:39 in the third period as Marchand scored on the powerplay at 2:55, followed by Craig Smith at 3:30, and another powerplay tally by David Pastrnak at 4:34.
Along with the three points from Marchand in his return, Pastrnak also had three with a goal and two assists. Forbort and Hampus Lindholm each had two assists. Jeremy Swayman made 28 saves in net, as Boston improved to 7-1 on the season. Husso made 28 saves in the loss for Detroit. The Bruins went 3-6 on the powerplay, while the Red Wings were 0-5. Boston is on the road in Columbus to face the Blue Jackets on Friday night. Marchand for now will not play back to back nights according to head coach Jim Montgomery.
