Brad Marchand Mired in a Near Career-Worst Slump

Brad Marchand has been a key player for the Bruins, but despite the team's success this season, he's currently in one of the worst slumps of his career.

The 34-year-old has undoubtedly been vital to Boston's season, but should we be concerned about Marchand's drought as postseason approaches?

As Scott McLaughlin of WEEI recently pointed out, it's been a while since the Bruins' assistant captain has experienced such a dry spell:

''For Marchand, it's been a long time since he's experienced a goal drought that was this long -- dating back eight years. The current slump is his longest goal-scoring drought since he had a 15-game goal drought in 2015 at the same point late in the season.''

Marchand scored his most recent goal on March 9th against the Edmonton Oilers at TD Garden. It's been even more of an extended period since he netted a power play goal, with his last one dating back to January 19th (32 games ago).

Throughout his 13-game goalless streak, the Bruins forward has tallied 8 assists, indicating he's still contributing offensively, albeit not at the rate we've come to expect.

Clearly, the Bruins require Marchand's scoring when the playoffs arrive, so what should be done to ensure this? Should Jim Montgomery give the veteran some rest, considering there are only five games left in the regular season? Or, is it better for him to work through the issue himself?

As McLaughlin also hinted at, history suggests that Marchand will bounce back once the playoffs start:

''Marchand has been the Bruins' leading playoff goal scorer in each of the team's last four seasons. He has scored in more than half of the playoff games he's been in over the past three seasons (scoring in 57.1% of games played).

Last year, he led the Bruins in playoff goals (4), assists (7) and points (11) through the team's seven-game series with the Carolina Hurricanes.''

Even with the slump, Marchand has managed a strong season for Boston, following a double-hip surgery in the off-season, he�s still registered 20 goals and 43 assists across 68 games.

Previously on Bruins Latest

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4 AVRIL \| 131 ANSWERS Brad Marchand Mired in a Near Career-Worst Slump Are you worried about Brad Marchand's current slump?
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