Panthers Head Coach Cracks Brad Marchand Joke Before Game 6

The Bruins did more than extend their season by coming out on top Tuesday evening at Amerant Bank Arena.

Boston’s Game 5 win over Florida also allowed Brad Marchand to potentially play at least one more game this season. Marchand last Friday sustained an upper-body injury, which forced him to miss the last two second-round series showdowns between the Atlantic Division rivals.

With the Bruins captain seemingly trending upward in his recovery, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice knows Marchand will be a major point of attention in the lead-up to Game 6 at TD Garden.

“It’s gonna be an absolute barnburner in there,” Maurice told reporters after his team’s 2-1 loss, per The Athletic. “There’ll be 18,000 cameras on the morning skate just to see how many sips of water bottle Brad Marchand takes. There’s going to be some high-end investigative journalism. So guys go home and get a nap because you’ve got some (expletive) to do in a couple days.”

Marchand participated in Tuesday’s morning skate and appeared to be in great spirits when he met with Bruins teammates right before Game 5. The two-time All-Star also will have some extra time to rest up before the series’ next tilt, as Boston and Florida won’t meet again until Friday night.

And as Maurice noted, there will be a hyper-focus on Marchand all the way up until his Game 6 status is revealed.