Last year in the days between the start of their historic regular season and the start of their best-of-seven first-round playoff series against Florida, the Bruins said the right things.
They talked about putting the past behind them and focusing on details in the postseason. But Brad Marchand wasn’t sure their actions and beliefs were consistent with what they said.
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“Looking back, we definitely looked at going on a long run, and preparing for a long run instead of just looking day to day,” he said. “It’s a lesson we can learn and build upon.”
The Bruins of course lost that series to Florida in seven games.
On Thursday, Marchand, who is heading into his first season as the Boston captain, hammered away at that theme. He was speaking to the media, but perhaps hoping his message reached his teammates one more time before the 2024 postseason starts against the Maple Leafs with Game 1 on Saturday at 8 p.m. at TD Garden.
“The worst thing you could probably do is go into the playoffs thinking anything you did during the regular season matters,” he said. “Nothing you do during the regular season has any bearing on the future. If you start getting caught up in the past good or bad, it’s going to affect your play. You have to stay in the moment. Even if you win or lose a game. It doesn’t matter if you lose by one goal in triple overtime or if you lose 10-1, you have to turn the page and get ready for the next game.
“The biggest thing you can do is stay in the moment and stay even-keeled,” he continued. “There’s so many momentum swings on and off the ice in the playoffs. You need to go through that adversity and not waiver. Same when it’s going well.”
The irrelevancy of the past also includes Boston’s history with Toronto. Their 4-0 regular season record this year and seven consecutive wins dating back to 2022 and three straight first-round playoff series victories don’t matter.
“It means nothing,” Marchand said. “They’re playing really well. At playoff time everything changes.”
