Pat Maroon makes the impact Bruins envisioned after trading for him originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON – What is Pat Maroon’s ideal performance in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs? Probably something very similar to what we saw from the veteran forward in game 1 of Boston’s first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs at TD Garden.
brown, Acquired from Minnesota Wild at March trade deadlinehelped his team set the tone from the start.
The first goal was always going to be important in this type of game, especially for a Leafs team that didn’t lead the Bruins by a single second in any of their four regular season games.
Maroon helped the B’s get on the scoreboard early, getting an assist on John Beecher’s first career playoff goal. Maroon knocked two Leafs players out of the game by winning a key puck battle along the boards, helping launch a 2-on-1 run up the ice.
The Bruins kept attacking from there, scoring three times in the second period en route to an impressive 5-1 victory.
The fourth line of Maroon, Beecher and Jesper Boqvist not only scored a goal in the opening period, but also combined for five hits, three of which came from Maroon. He finished with a team-high six hits in 11:28 of ice time. The most notable resulted in Leafs defenseman Timothy Liljegren being sent to the Bruins bench.
Maroon’s impact isn’t just felt on the ice. His leadership on the bench and in the locker room, as well as his playoff experience, are very valuable to this Bruins team.
Saturday night was the Maroon’s 151st career postseason game, the most of any player on the Bruins’ roster. He has won three consecutive Stanley Cup titles with the Blues (2018-19) and Lightning (2019-20, 2020-21). He understands what kind of hockey works this time of year and how to help his teammates reach that level.
Their line consisted of a rookie making his playoff debut in Beecher, and a guy playing just his seventh career playoff game in Boqvist. Maroon took on the role of helping these young players navigate the highs and lows of an intense postseason matchup.
“He’s really good off the bench, what we noticed is he’s a lot like Nick Foligno, a lot of positive talk, a lot of reinforcement of what the game plan is,” Montgomery said of Maroon. “But he really grabs his linemates, Boqvist and Beecher, and gives really positive reinforcement about what they’re going to do next shift, not what just happened.”
Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo made a similar observation in the locker room after the game.
“I was thinking about it the whole game. When you hear a guy like that talking, everyone listens,” said Carlo. “Everyone takes care of what they’re going to (do) based on their words, just their experience and leadership. He is a great resource to all of us and a great leader as well.”
The Bruins needed to get a little tougher this season. They were pressured a bit by the Florida Panthers in their first round playoff loss last year. Maroon is a guy who will finish every check, fight for possession of the puck in difficult areas of the ice and even provide scoring production. His offensive ability is a bit underrated.
The Maroon’s addition at the trade deadline didn’t make many headlines. He’s not a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman, which were the Bruins’ two most glaring needs at the time.
But there’s a lot of value in adding someone to your team who consistently plays the right way, reinforces the coach’s message, and has immediate buy-in from the players because he’s won the ultimate prize three times.
Game 1 was a prime example of this.
