Bruins
“This guy has three Cups for a reason.”
Pat Maroon distributed six hits Saturday against the Maple Leafs. Photo by Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Pat Maroon’s impact on the Bruins bench is easy to see.
There’s the sight of the veteran winger — whose name is engraved three times on the Stanley Cup — keeping his teammates grounded amid the chaos of hockey’s playoffs with pats on the back and words of encouragement.
And, of course, there’s the optics of the 6-foot-3, 234-pound bruiser throwing Toronto defenseman Timothy Liljegren to the Boston bench Saturday night — rattling an already rabid TD Garden crowd.
That playoff grit and pugnacious approach on the ice are two prized possessions when the calendar approaches April.
And in his first playoff appearance in a black and gold sweater, Maroon showed why Boston wanted him in its final run at the Cup.
“It’s a lot of emotion coming at us, especially because the crowd is getting into it,” Jim Montgomery said of the tone Maroon sets on the ice. “The play he makes, I mean, that’s what he’s good at: making subtle plays that build team play.
“And what he’s really good at is on the bench, and what we’ve noticed is, kind of like Nick Foligno, a lot of positive talk, a lot of reinforcing the game plan.”
Based on Maroon’s approach against the Maple Leafs in Game 1, the Bruins’ strategy on Saturday was to do as many injuries as possible against their Original Six foe. On a night where Boston handed out 51 total hits against Toronto, Maroon led the way with six hits in 11:28 of ice time.
Maroon’s knack for bringing down opposing skaters with a check or right hook has been well documented. But the Bruins didn’t just add Maroon to their roster to simply serve as a physical deterrent.
“When he’s on the ice, his ability to hang on to pucks, his ability to make plays, I think it’s incredibly underrated,” Montgomery said of Maroon’s play before the start of this first round series. “A lot of people talk about Maroon and his punches, for lack of a better word. For me, he’s a hockey player. He won three Cups because he is a hockey player.
Maroon made an immediate impact in his first appearance in Saturday’s match. While gathering a puck near the boards, Maroon found himself in the crosshairs of Leafs scrapper Ryan Reaves and 6-foot-5 defenseman Joel Edmundson.
Most NHL players probably would have kicked the puck into no-man’s land to avoid the heat – or would have coughed up the cookie after hitting the glass. Of course, Maroon isn’t built like most NHL players.
With two skaters drawn towards him, Maroon instead turned the puck over to teammate Jesper Boqvist – who took off at the other end of the ice. With Reaves and Edmundson both trying to topple Maroon, the Leafs only had one skater back as Boqvist and Johnny Beecher pushed the puck towards Ilya Samsonov.
Seconds later, Beecher fired a shot off Boqvist’s feed, giving Boston a lead with just 2:26 remaining on the team’s first shot of the night.
“This guy has three cuts for a reason,” Beecher said of Maroon. “He knows how to play the right way. He knows how to manage a game. He was great for me and Boqs, he just slowed the game down and gave us a few tips here and there. He played an incredible game. The goal won’t happen without him.
Maroon may not be in the top six at this point in his career. But it’s no coincidence that the 35-year-old won three consecutive Cups from 2019 to 2021.
The Bruins are hoping he adds a fourth ring to his final stop of his NHL career.
“He made a great play on that first goal tonight,” Marchand said of Maroon. “So he understands the importance of the little plays in the game that can make a difference in the outcome and he emphasizes that and he holds guys accountable.
“It’s not an easy thing for a guy to do to come in on a deadline and act like that and have that confidence in a room, but because of his experience, he does it. It makes a big difference.”
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