Brad Marchand broke the hearts of Toronto Maple Leafs fans — Paul Bissonnette included — with a dramatic overtime winner in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference second-round playoff series on Friday, May 9.
Marchand’s goal gave the Florida Panthers their first win of the series, which stands at 2-1 in favor of Toronto.
Paul Bissonnette Agonizes Over Brad Marchand’s Goal
Hockey analyst and former NHL player Paul Bissonnette has a well-known history of chirping with Marchand. The two have exchanged barbs and good-natured jabs more than once in media appearances this season.
After Game 3, Bissonnette posted a video clip on X recapping the game and expressing disbelief that Marchand had sealed the win.
“Anybody but him (Marchand), anybody but him. But great game, put it behind you, get some rest tomorrow, and come ready for a big Game 4. Put it behind you. A couple of opportunities they had to close out — Knies, Nylander breakaways. Would have liked a little bit more at the net in overtime. Simplify. Get them running…but put it behind you. Anybody but him, though, f***,” Bissonnette said in the video.
Marchand’s goal came at 15:27 of the first overtime — his fourth career playoff OT goal. Only Carter Verhaeghe, Patrick Kane, and Corey Perry (five each) have more among active players. Marchand, at 36 years and 363 days, also became the oldest player in Panthers history to score a playoff overtime goal.
“We battled back from a couple of two-goal deficits, and we just competed the way we know we can. But it’s all about doing it the next game. We know they’re going to come out hard,” Marchand said.
Matthew Knies and John Tavares opened the scoring for Toronto before Florida captain Aleksander Barkov got the home team on the board.
Tavares scored again to make it 3-1, but Florida’s Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe responded to tie the game.
Jonah Gadjovich then gave the Panthers their first lead of the night. Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly tied it again at 4-4 in the third before Marchand’s overtime wrist shot deflected off Rielly and found the net.
“We had a good first, I thought, and came out in the second, and we just didn’t … [play] direct with what we needed to do,” Toronto coach Craig Berube told NHL.com. “We got back to playing our game in the third, were pressuring them and getting pucks in behind them, going to work. We need to keep doing that.”
