BEDFORD, Mass. — “I love my captain,” said Pat Maroon. “I love my guys. Trust me, it’s a tough business.”
Maroon and Brad Marchand have a history. They are masters of the chirp. They have gotten in each others’ ears with material that everyone would love to hear. Hate does that to players.
Chirping between Brad Marchand & Pat Maroon
Marchand: "I own you"
Maroon: "I got three Stanley Cups. How many you got?" pic.twitter.com/CuUp7MyMyH— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) January 9, 2022
But now that they are teammates, Maroon is all in for the Boston Bruins captain. That means doing anything to avenge the sucker punch that Sam Bennett delivered to Marchand in Game 3 that knocked him out for Game 4 and most likely Tuesday’s critical Game 5.
In the playoffs, however, there is a line that Maroon cannot cross, and it’s frustrating him to no end.
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“I’m damned if I do. I’m damned if I don’t,” Maroon said when asked if Bennett should have accepted an invitation to fight. “I’m sure everyone’s wondering why I haven’t done anything. I’ll sit here and say it’s not like I haven’t tried or that I don’t want to do anything.”
The problem Maroon is having is that Bennett, among others, turned the other way when the Bruins’ big man came calling in Game 4. Maroon’s verbal barrage began in warmups. Video showed Maroon giving it to Sergei Bobrovsky during multiple passes at the red line. It continued during the game with inquiries with Bennett, Brandon Montour and just about everyone drawing a Panthers paycheck.
Pat Maroon offering his services to anybody in a white sweater pic.twitter.com/wck6jAiKiV
— Spoked Z (@SpokedZ) May 12, 2024
Nobody said yes. Maroon had no choice but to skate away.
It might be a different story if this were the regular season. In 2021, Maroon finally had enough of Montour’s yapping and jumped the Florida defenseman. It cost Maroon $5,000 for spearing. The satisfaction of going at Montour was probably worth the fine.
It’s different in the playoffs, especially with the temperature cranked to boiling on the Bruins-Panthers series already. Following the Game 2 fight between David Pastrnak and Matthew Tkachuk, the NHL warned both clubs they were being monitored for any degree of funny business. General manager Don Sweeney pitched gasoline on the fire by critiquing the NHL for not making officials available for questioning to explain controversial calls.
Given all that, Maroon is at risk of a solo visit to the penalty box — and possibly worse — if he initiates an eye-for-an-eye altercation. Bennett scored the tying goal in Game 4 with Hampus Lindholm off for interference.
“I don’t want to put my team in jeopardy,” Maroon said. “I don’t want to take a suspension. I don’t want to put my team on the penalty kill. I’m doing everything I can. So we can sit here and say I’m not. Maybe I’m not. But I talked to my captain. I talked to the guys in the locker room. They know. They know I care. And that’s the most important thing.”
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It would normally be on Bennett to answer for his punch and say yes. Maroon wasn’t the only Bruin to inquire. Trent Frederic gave Bennett a slash and cross-check on different shifts.
But Bennett said he did not intend to punch Marchand. Bennett serves his team best by keeping out of the box and staying on the ice, where he can control pucks, make plays and bang bodies.
As for a Maroon-Bennett showdown, it would not be a fair fight. Maroon is 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds. Bennett is 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds. Also, Maroon is a fourth-liner. He played 8:37 in Game 4. Bennett, Florida’s No. 2 center, logged 17:38 of ice time. They are in separate weight classes in terms of toughness and responsibility.
The best way Maroon can make a Game 5 difference, then, is by fulfilling his duties: arriving on time on the forecheck, winning his wall battles, controlling pucks down low, pounding Florida’s defensemen and getting above his opponents on reloads. Like all his teammates, Maroon has to play north. It’s something they haven’t done enough of in Round 2.
“We’re not pushing right now,” Maroon said. “We’re sitting back on our heels. We’re letting them dictate the play. We’ve got to start dictating the play more. We’ve got to start coming out with more fire each period.”
The Bruins held a 2-0 first-period lead despite being outshot by a 15-5 margin. They had to chase the game in the third period. They failed miserably. The Bruins managed only two shots on Bobrovsky in the last 20 minutes.
“We’re not shooting enough from the top either,” said Maroon. “I don’t think we’re getting enough traffic. I think we’ve got to find those second and third opportunities where we’re creating havoc and then we’re jumping on loose pucks.”
Time is running out on Maroon, the three-time Stanley Cup champion, to pursue a fourth championship. The Bruins are trailing the better team, and they’re not getting any breaks while doing so.
(Photo of Pat Maroon and Matthew Tkachuk: Rich Gagnon / Getty Images)
