Boston Bruins Win With Leaping Marchand OT Heroics

Boston Bruins winger Brad Marchand isn’t exactly a newcomer when it comes to OT heroics or Stanley Cup playoff goals, so he knew exactly what to do when he scored the game-winner in a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals in Game 2 at Capital One Arena.

Marchand was cocked and ready for the one-timer when Matt Grzelcyk threw a cross-ice pass his way and then buried one that beat Craig Anderson’s glove hand inside the near post. In the cool facts department, it registers as the fastest game-winning goal in a Stanley Cup playoff OT at just 39 seconds into overtime. It beats the iconic leaping Bobby Orr goal to clinch the Stanley Cup in 1970 by a single second as flying Orr took place 40 seconds into that game against the St. Louis Blues.

Brad Marchand scored the fastest goal to start a #StanleyCup Playoffs overtime in @NHLBruins history and tied the First Round series at 1-1 in the process.

The goal he surpassed: Bobby Orr’s Cup winner.#NHLStats: https://t.co/APNhUxdS4J pic.twitter.com/e5yPl9IrzQ

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) May 18, 2021

As soon as the goal was good, Marchand then sprinted to the Boston Bruins bench and leaped into the waiting arms of Taylor Hall at the end of the B’s bench.

BRAD MARCHAND BEATS ANDERSON 39 SECONDS INTO OVERTIME AND THIS SERIES IS TIED 1-1 #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/xhoWblgIHQ

— Bruins Diehards (@BruinsDiehards) May 18, 2021

It was Hall that scored the game-tying goal late in the third period to push things into overtime and allow for No. 63’s red light fireworks, and he had no problem making sure to catch Marchand once he’d gone airborne.

“Grzelcyk looks to the net and there’s nobody there, and Marchy is off to the side. He’s able to one-time it in. It’s a huge goal for us. But we feel like we played well enough to win the game. It was one of those games where it did and it feels good going back to Boston with what I guess you could say is home ice advantage,” said Hall. “It was awesome. Just a lot of relief. I felt like I scored the goal myself there [when Marchand jumped into him]. You could see the smiles on everybody’s faces that we had won that game. It’s such a huge difference between being down 2-0 and being tied 1-1.

“He doesn’t weigh very much, and I’ve been lifting a lot lately, so I was prepared for that [to catch him on the bench].”

Sweet dreams. #NHLBruins | #BehindTheB pic.twitter.com/ASlR1Egu2g

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) May 18, 2021

The Marchand game-winner was part of a great response from Boston’s best players in the Game 2 win after being a little slow out of the gate vs. the Capitals in Game 1. It’s wins like Monday night’s overtime thriller and moments like the Marchand leap into the bench that will begin to make people believe that something special might be afoot with the Boston Bruins.