Mo ice, Mo points.
(Yeah, yeah. I’ll never make it as a rapper.)
Oh well. The point still stands: There’s been a strong correlation between Brad Marchand getting more ice time and Brad Marchand recording more points.
In 2015-16, Marchand’s time on ice jumped nearly two minutes from the previous year. Last year, that number got a 50-second bump, and this year, another 90 seconds on average per game have been tacked on. Marchand is four seconds shy of averaging 21 minutes a night this season.
It’s certainly paid in dividends for Marchand’s Boston Bruins.
His first major jump in ice time saw him record career-high numbers at that point with 37 goals and 61 points in 77 games in 2015-16. Last year, and with another ice-time bump, Marchand struck again - this time to the tune of 39 goals and 85 points.
The added two minutes and change of ice time resulted in a 30-point increase in two seasons for Marchand.
This season, he’s on pace for another 35-plus in the goal column and nearly 80 points, numbers that would be higher if he didn’t miss eight of Boston’s 31 games (including Monday’s tilt with the Columbus Blue Jackets) because of injury.
It’s led people, like PHT’s own Adam Gretz, to ask questions like this:
Why did it take the Bruins until he was 27 to start playing Brad Marchand 18-20 minutes per night?
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) December 19, 2017
Solid, legitimate query.
Marchand had just 42 points in 77 games in 2014-15, the year prior to former head coach Claude Julien taking the hint.
But that’s all water under the bridge these days.
Marchand set a new career-high on Monday with a goal, giving him a nine-game point streak, and he’s helped form one-third of one of the best scoring trios in the NHL with Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, the latter who entered Monday on an 11-game point streak.
Pretty, pretty good.
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck