Bruins Brief: Panthers Gain Marchand, Lose Ekblad To Suspension

Good morning, my name is Andrew Fantucchio. It’s Tuesday, March 11, and here are the top stories, news items, and highlights surrounding the Boston Bruins and from across the NHL today.

Bruins News:

Marchand Faces New Reality With Panthers: A new reality set in for Brad Marchand in his first appearance as a member of the Florida Panthers. As he fought through tears, he looked back on his time with the Boston Bruins and told his side of how it all came to an end.

Matthew Poitras Demoted Back to AHL: Amid all the chaos of the NHL trade deadline, it flew under the radar that the Bruins demoted Matthew Poitras back down to the AHL.

NHL News & Rumors:

Aaron Ekblad Suspended 20 Games For PED Violation: Just as the Panthers welcomed Brad Marchand to their locker room, they lost Aaron Ekblad. The defenseman will now miss the rest of the regular season while serving a 20-game suspension for violating the NHL’s policy against performance-enhancing drugs.

Hurricanes Had No Chance at Rantanen: Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour pulled back the curtain on the Mikko Rantanen situation. Essentially, Rantanen said he had four teams he would play for, and Carolina wasn’t one.

MacKinnon Hits 1,000 Point Milestone: Nathan MacKinnon is already a no-doubt Hall of Fame player. Scoring the 1,000th point of his career only solidified his case.

Ullmark In Vintage Form: The Detroit Red Wings fired nearly 50 shots on goal last night but could only put one past Linus Ullmark.

Yesterday’s Scoreboard:

Senators: 2, Red Wings: 1

Sabres: 3, Oilers: 2

Maple Leafs: 4, Utah Hockey Club: 3 (SO)

Avalanche: 3, Blackhawks: 0

Today’s Schedule:

All Times EST

Florida Panthers vs. Boston Bruins, 7 p.m.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. New Jersey Devils, 7 p.m.

Ottawa Senators vs. Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 7 p.m.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Carolina Hurricanes, 7:30 p.m.

Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild, 8 p.m.

New York Rangers vs. Winnipeg Jets, 8 p.m.

Washington Capitals vs. Anaheim Ducks, 10 p.m.

New York Islanders vs. Los Angeles Kings, 10:30 p.m.

Nashville Predators vs. San Jose Sharks, 10:30 p.m.

More From National Hockey Now:

Montreal: The Montreal Canadiens are only four points out of a playoff spot, but how real are their chances of making it back to the postseason?

New Jersey: After loading up on defense at the NHL trade deadline, the future of two top New Jersey Devils prospects has come into question.

Philadelphia: The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t make a ton of moves at the NHL trade deadline, but the ones they did make look encouraging.

Pittsburgh: It doesn’t seem that Kyle Dubas has learned from past mistakes as he tries to rebuild the Pittsburgh Penguins.

San Jose: After his best friend was traded away, losing is becoming hard to tolerate for this San Jose Sharks player.

Vegas: The Vegas Golden Knights once again look mighty this year, but they can’t find a way to vanquish the Los Angeles Kings.

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