Brad Marchand ruled out for Game 5 with Bruins’ season on the line

Throughout the playoffs, the Bruins have been plagued by their striking inability to put pucks on the net, and being without their second-best goalscorer in Marchand certainly won’t help matters. Marchand has racked up ten points in his ten playoff games played so far, so being without him is a big blow that Boston ultimately may not be able to overcome.

If it weren’t for a late collapse in Game 4, the Bruins may have found themselves in a better spot to absorb Marchand’s blow for this game. Instead, they threw away a 2-0 lead to lose to the Panthers 3-2, putting themselves in the 3-1 series hole they currently find themselves in. And now, they are going to have to find a way to keep their season alive without their captain on the ice.

With Marchand out, head coach Jim Montgomery will likely stick Danton Heinen, Charlie Coyle, and Trent Frederic back on the top line after this group created a handful of scoring chances in Game 4. If they intend on winning this game, though, they are going to have to find a way to bury as many scoring opportunities as they can, because this team simply isn’t getting many good looks on the goal right now.

This is certainly not the way Marchand wants to go out, and he will be pulling for his squad to extend their season by picking up a victory in Game 5 to force a return back to Boston for Game 6. Even then, whether or not he would be able to play is uncertain, but that’s a question the team would certainly like to answer, rather than getting eliminated on Tuesday night and never knowing. It was already going to be a tall task for the Bruins to get themselves back on track in Game 5, but it’s even tougher now that Marchand has been ruled out for this one.