BOSTON, Mass. — In January, Brad Marchand received a five-game suspension for throwing an elbow to the head of then New Jersey Devil Marcus Johansson.
Recently, the score was settled.
“He buried me in practice the other day, so we joked about him finally getting his revenge,” Marchand said. “He’s a great guy, great teammate and we’re lucky to have him.”
They became teammates a week before the trade deadline, when Bruins GM Don Sweeney acquired Johansson for a second-round pick in the 2019 draft and a fourth in 2020. The deal continues to look like a coup for Sweeney.
While Johansson has three goals and six assists in 16 playoff games, he has been a good fit on Boston’s third line alongside Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen, as well as the B’s second power-play unit.
While he didn’t pick up a point on Monday, when he registered just one shot on goal, Johansson was the Bruins best player in the first period, when the rest of them were looking like they were extending their break to 11 games.
“I always knew he was good,” Marchand said. “He was always a very good player in Washington and Jersey. Always very dangerous. He has stepped it up to a whole other level in playoffs. He’s controlling games when he’s out there. The way he handles the puck, his patience and poise. Some of the moves that he makes. He’s an incredible player and he’s dominating right now. He just has another level of confidence. It’s a lot of fun to watch him right now. He’s been a big, big reason why we’re here, and for our success. It’s just good to see.”
Marchand pointed out that Johansson was “all over the place” Monday, including the defensive zone.
“Saw him hit the post early in the game, set up a couple of really good plays,” Marchand said. “He was driving wide, he was controlling pucks. He was good defensively as well, good sticks in the ‘D’ zone. Just his energy and things that he does out there, it gives us life. Gives us energy. We all feed off that.”
Marchand did reach out to Johansson and apologized after giving him the concussion back in January, and the two have become tight since the trade.
“He’s a really good guy, and he showed that from Day 1,” Marchand said. “He didn’t have any hard feelings coming in. I think that’s one thing that happens in this hockey world, guys are pretty good at leaving things that happened on ice, on ice. And off ice, everyone’s normally a completely different person. He was really good about it all. And very accepting to having a friendship. We’ve put it behind us.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
