On Tuesday night, Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand reached a huge milestone. The veteran forward took part in his 1,000th NHL game when he took to the field against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The fans inside the TD Garden would give him a standing ovation following a video tribute. This left the 35-year-old forward emotional as he later reflected back on his career.
Marchand was drafted by the Bruins in 2006 and made his debut with the team two years later. Since then he has gone on to become one of the modern-day greats. The Canadian International is now the eight player in Bruins’ history to reach the 1,000-game mark.
Yeah, it’s special. I know how fortunate I am to be part of this organization, and one organization for my whole career up to this point. That’s part of what I love so much about being here, how much the fans care and how much they embrace the team. It’s really special.
Brad Marchand on reaching 1,000 games played milestone as per NHL.com.
Recently he scripted another piece of history when he went up against the Colorado Avalanche. His two goals against the Avs saw him move into fifth place in the all-time Bruins’ points chart, surpassing Rick Middleton.
Lightning spoil Brad Marchand’s historic night with shootout victory
As the two division rivals faced off on Tuesday, the major focus of the game was on Brad Marchand. The veteran winger was taking part in his 1,000th NHL game. However, he did not get to celebrate too much as the Tampa Bay Lightning spoiled his historic night with a shootout victory.
The Bruins once again found themselves trailing in the game. Their previous game saw them lose 3-0 against the Washington Nationals, a result that drew huge boos from the crowd present at the TD Garden.
Goals from Nikita Kucherov and Erik Cernak saw the visitors take a 2-0 lead early in the second period. The Bruins almost found the perfect ending for Marchand as the captain assisted both Charlie McAvoy and James van Riemsdyk to level things up at 2-2.
The game would eventually go to shootout after both teams failed to find the winner in overtime. Lightning’ goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 shots as Brayden Point went on to score the only goal in the shootout to hand them the 3-2 win.
This result means that the Bruins have now lost two games in a row. They still lead the Atlantic Division though and would be hoping to avoid a third successive loss when they face the Seattle Kraken on Thursday.
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