Marchand questionable for G4; B’s object to hit
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
BOSTON — Brad Marchand is day-to-day with an upper-body injury after a collision with Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett in Game 3 that the Boston Bruins said might have crossed the line.
The Bruins captain’s status for Game 4 on Sunday is uncertain. He didn’t practice with the team Saturday. Marchand is the Bruins’ leading scorer in the playoffs with 10 points in 10 games (3 goals, 7 assists).
The Panthers lead the series 2-1 after a 6-2 victory in Boston on Friday night.
Some on social media said a slow-motion replay shows Bennett making contact with Marchand’s head using his right glove as the Boston winger went for a check. Andrew Raycroft, a former NHL goaltender who covers the Bruins for NESN, called it “a sucker punch, not a reverse hit.”
A source told ESPN that the NHL department of player safety will not discipline Bennett for the play, which did not receive a penalty from on-ice officials.
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery didn’t see the incident in real time but said “having seen [the replay], there’s a history there with Bennett. He’s a good, hard player, but there’s clearly evidence of what went on. People can say it wasn’t intentional. We have our view of it.”
Montgomery said the history with Bennett isn’t with Marchand in particular but in delivering that kind of blow on previous hits.
In the Panthers’ series against the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, for example, Bennett’s right glove made contact with the face of forward Matthew Knies before Bennett slammed Knies to the ice. Knies was concussed on the play, and some said Bennett had delivered a sneaky punch to the Toronto rookie.
Florida coach Paul Maurice said he didn’t believe Bennett punched Marchand.
“No, and I don’t think most of you would’ve either,” he said Saturday. “It was just a collision. In a perfect world, every team has everybody healthy. Nobody likes to see him get hurt.”
Bennett returned to the Florida lineup for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 12:43 and assisted on Vladimir Tarasenko‘s power-play goal that gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
“He hits hard. He’s thick and a really tough guy. He knows how to time it,” Panthers winger Carter Verhaeghe said. “It’s a huge skill how to time hits like that and get guys like that. There’s very few guys in the league like him that can do that and that have the skill set that he has.”
Marchand skated eight shifts in the first period and seven in the second period, amassing 10:51 in total ice time before departing. He didn’t register a shot on goal and had one shot attempt.
“You never want to see someone go down and not be able to come back, especially a guy who’s your leader and your best player. But that’s an opportunity for guys to step up, and we can do that,” said Boston center Charlie Coyle, who noted that the Maple Leafs rallied against the Bruins in the first round after losing star Auston Matthews to an upper-body injury.
“I think you’ll see guys take on more responsibility and rise to that occasion,” Coyle said. “We want to play for guys who are out of the lineup and we wish can be in there. We play for each other, and that’s something we’re going to do [Sunday].”
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Kristen Shilton
The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.
Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.
Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.
The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.
Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.
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Ryan S. Clark
Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.
Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.
He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.
Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.
It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.
That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.
But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
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