'King of the Rats' Comes Through in Crunch Time as Panthers Even Up Stanley Cup Final

Brad Marchand might be playing hockey with a youthful vigor in his new Panthers uniform, but the 37-year-old former Boston captain has gained plenty of perspective since he won his first and only Cup in 2011 as a Bruins rookie.

He remembers the losses more than the wins, such as his last trip to the Cup Final in 2019, which ended in Game 7 heartbreak as the Blues hoisted the Cup. He’d been thinking about that game quite a lot, headed into this 2025 Stanley Cup Final, a destination he’s arrived at after a shocking in-season trade that took him from the only team he’d known his entire career to a pack of rats that feels like home in its way.

"He's the perfect Panther," Matthew Tkachuk said. "He's built for our team … he was so hard to play against. We've played a bunch before, but I still don't think you get to see his skill set. Such a hard worker and an unbelievable teammate."

 The perfect Panther played hero on Friday night, scoring his second goal in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup in double overtime to give the Panthers a 5-4 win in the most dramatic of fashion.

Marchand was a fitting addition to the Panthers' Rat Pack, a team full of players who are equal parts pesky, skilled, relentless, and clutch.

As he embarked on this opportunity to seize a Stanley Cup Final with a like-minded bunch, he'd been reflecting on past losses on a large scale, like that 2019 Game 7. But he'd also been thinking about smaller moments that have led to recent playoff disappointment, like his missed breakaway a few years back as the Bruins collapsed against the Panthers team he is now a key part of.

“I keep going back to when we lost to Florida a couple of years ago. Like, we never should have lost that series — but we did,” He said at media day ahead of Game 1. “I miss a breakaway in Game 5 with a couple of seconds left, and it should’ve been over right there. So, that one play, Bob (Sergei Bobrovsky) making a big save, Florida ends up winning. And there's little moments like that through all kinds of series that create these opportunities for teams.”

It was such a specific memory to conjure up. Marchand has been dialed in on this playoff run in a smaller but essential role on his stacked, new team. You got the sense the ghost of missed breakaways past haunted him, and that he was going to do everything in his power to avoid piling on more regret to his resume.

He was going to make the big moments count this time, and he was going to get there by making each shift count. For a player like Marchand, that means finishing off breakaways.

Two games into this Final, and Marchand's reflections were a preview of the future. His two goals to lift the Panthers to a Game 2 win in Edmonton came from the exact type of opportunities he rued missing in the past. It's this experience that made him a tremendous steal for Florida GM Bill Zito at the trade deadline and a huge favorite in the locker room.

“Brad’s an honest man, that’s why he fits here,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said postgame. “He loves the game, he loves the people, he’s very open, he just fits right in. An incredibly positive human being. He is truly a unique human.”

And there must be something about the date, June 6. Fourteen years ago to this day, he did the same thing for the Bruins on their way to winning the 2011 Stanley Cup.

How is he so good at these breakaways?

“Just don’t forget the puck, that’s the main thing. I’ve done that before and it’s not a good feeling,” he said, laughing. “It’s different with each goalie, and things happen quick. It’s just instincts at that time. Usually, it comes from what you work on in practice. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”

It could have gone so differently, especially with Florida already dropping Game 1 in overtime. Anything that can happen will happen in this Cup Final as seen with Oilers elder statesman Corey Perry scoring the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history with 17.8 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime shortly after.

But Marchand made sure there would be no repeat of the first contest.

“I think our whole bench stood up when he had a breakaway there, it’s just a huge play at a huge time,” Sam Bennett said postgame. “He’s been incredible for us these whole playoffs. He’s scoring massive goals at massive times, and that one was the biggest.”

Marchand scored his fifth career playoff overtime goal to tie the record for most among active players and become the seventh player in NHL history with as many.

His two Game 2 goals bring him to seven and 17 points in 19 games on his current run, which is particularly impressive given his third-line role. The Panthers also set a franchise record with their ninth road win of these playoffs.

This Cup Final is as close as a Cup Final can get. The Panthers stole one on the road to tie the series 1-1, headed back to Sunrise.

Don't call off the Year of the Rat quite yet.