Marchand stirs the pot as Leafs and Bruins renew rivalry

The Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins held optional skates at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. 

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Brad Marchand was asked to list off his favourite chirpers in the NHL. He named Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty and Ottawa Senators forward Claude Giroux. 

"Doughty is pretty funny," the talkative Bruins winger said. "He's just always yapping. Giroux's pretty funny too."

Is there anyone on the Leafs he likes to engage with? Perhaps Michael Bunting? 

"I really haven't had a whole lot of chatter with Bunting," Marchand said. "There's not really many guys likely to get into it. Mitch [Marner] is out there talking about video games and his dog and those terrible new skates that he's got out, but other than that, there's not a whole lot of guys who like to get into it."

Marner created a buzz at Leafs practice and on social media on Tuesday by unveiling the white skates he'll wear at the All-Star Game this weekend. They feature his dog Zeus riding a crocodile and a shark. Marchand, apparently, was paying attention. 

 "I respect his game," Marchand said. "I think he's an incredible player and that's usually what I tell him. Just that he's my favourite player."

Despite the chirps, the respect is real. 

"He's not a big guy either and he's not intimidated," Marchand continued. "He goes to the front of the net, he goes into the corners, so I actually really respect his game. I don't get into it with him very often ... When we're not playing him, I enjoy watching him. And the things that he does is really impressive." 

As the media session progressed, Marchand heaped praise on the current Leafs core. 

"Those guys are dangerous," he noted. "The games we've played them, they compete hard. They're neck-and-neck. They're a good team. They have a lot of depth."

But at the end of his media scrum, Marchand couldn't help but get in one last jab. Asked about Boston's goaltending tandem, the 34-year-old started talking about roster construction and hit on a perceived difference between his team and the Leafs. 

"If you look at our team in the past, guys have tried to take less to win because we know that it bleeds through the lineup," Marchand said. "If you can have six guys that make lower salary other than three it's a lot harder to play against and that's why we've been good for so long."

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The Leafs view this final game before the All-Star and bye break as a chance to make a statement. 

"As big of a regular-season game as we get," said second-line centre Alex Kerfoot. "You're playing against the best team in the league, a divisional rival, a rival of the Toronto Maple Leafs, at home, right before the break. It's a fun, exciting game to be a part of."

The teams have split the two previous meetings this season, with both sides winning on home ice. The Leafs fell 4-3 in Boston on Jan. 14. The Bruins capitalized on a turnover by John Tavares in the final minutes to earn the win. 

"A lot of their games, and sometimes they're really close, they just pull away in the end," observed coach Sheldon Keefe. "The other team that they're playing breaks before they do, and we were guilty of that last time we saw them."

Boston leads the Leafs by 11 points and has played one fewer game. 

"Five-on-five, power play, penalty killing, goaltending, faceoffs, like, they're top of the league in every facet, so there's no shifts off," said Keefe. "There's no plays off."

"We got a lot of respect for them," said veteran defenceman Mark Giordano, "but there's a difference between respecting a team and fearing a team and we just got to play with a lot of confidence in ourselves."

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The Bruins are winless in three games. It's the first time they've dropped consecutive games this season. 

"Yesterday's practice was very competitive, so it was great response," said leading scorer David Pastrnak. "We all know the break is coming up after this game. It's a big game for us to get back on a winning streak. You can feel in the room, what's [at] stake today. I'm pretty sure they [Leafs] feel the same. It'll be a big one."

The Bruins lost 3-2 in Tampa Bay last Thursday before surrendering a late equalizer in Florida on Saturday and losing in overtime. Boston then dropped a 4-1 decision to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday in Raleigh. What needs to change? 

"Our decision making," said captain Patrice Bergeron. "We're making cute plays. So, going back to being straight line, being on our toes and more aggressive. There's been a lot of us not playing to the pace we're used to, and it hurt us."

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Pastrnak has scored 16 goals in 22 regular-season games against the Leafs. 

"He's one of the best 1-on-1 guys in the league," said Giordano. "He can shoot and score from a lot of different angles, a lot of different spots, but he's really deceptive 1-on-1. When he gets going through the neutral zone, it's pretty hard to stop him. We have to try and take away his speed and time and space."

Leafs defenceman Rasmus Sandin skates with Pastrnak in the summer. 

"He's very slippery," Sandin noted. "The little toe on his curve makes it harder sometimes. It's tough to read. You got to play him tight, but if you're not too close to him it's tough to go too close to him, because he's going to walk around you a little bit."

With a player like Pastrnak, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. 

"Extremely creative player," said Tavares. "You always have to expect the unexpected. You can never take your eye off him ... He can beat you off the rush, is strong on the cycle, finds soft spots to get his shot away or use deception to draw people in and find the open man." 

"It's how he creates something out of nothing almost every play, every shift," Bergeron said when asked what stands out. "And where he goes. He goes to the dirty areas and is not afraid of traffic."

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Tavares picked up a pair of assists on Sunday while playing in the 1,000th game of his career. Surely, he deserved the team's championship belt.

But Timothy Liljegren, who received the player-of-the-game prize following Wednesday's win over the New York Rangers, passed it to Giordano instead. Giordano started giving a speech before breaking into a laugh and walking the belt over to the captain. 

"I can't take credit for that," Giordano said of the prank. "Mitchy was the first one who mentioned it and Lily had it, so he jumped on and it was a good one. We got a couple guys in here that's for sure. The joke got a few guys, and they were already pretty upset that we didn't give it to John, so I had to turn it over pretty quick."

Did Tavares see it coming? 

"I wasn't really sure," the 32-year-old centre said with a chuckle. "It seemed a little awkward there at first and then Gio came over. A nice way to finish off a great day and a good win."

Tavares will play game No. 40 against the Bruins on Wednesday.

"It's been great battles against him," said Bergeron. "I'm not surprised he played 1,000. He's got a lot more in front of him as well. Great player, great guy too. He's the ultimate teammate as well. Kudos to him for everything he's accomplished. It's always a battle. He's such a great talent, but also so strong the puck."

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Sandin wears a bracelet that reads, 'F--k Cancer.'

"My mom got cancer last year," the 22-year-old revealed. "We had a tough time as a family. It's a little thing that means a lot to me ... It happened in the beginning of 2022. That's when I got the message from my dad. It was really, really tough. I've never been through anything like it. It's tough to not see her every day, but luckily we have FaceTime and that stuff."

It got easier when Sandin returned home to Sweden in the summer. He's also expecting his mom to visit later this season. 

"She's doing lots better," he said. "We were all going through a really tough time in the summer, especially her. She's definitely doing better. She's coming over to Toronto very soon so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully sometime around March. We'll see. Hopefully after my birthday. That'd be a good birthday gift."

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Projected Leafs lineup for Wednesday's game:

Bunting - Tavares - Marner 
Jarnkrok - Kerfoot - Nylander 
Engvall - Kampf - Anderson 
Aston-Reese - Holmberg - Simmonds 

Rielly - Brodie 
Giordano - Holl 
Sandin - Liljegren 

Samsonov starts 
Woll