Florida Panthers star Brad Marchand overcomes injury, leads charge in finals

The Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand has shared his honest thoughts about the challenges he faced during recovery and finding his stride in the ongoing Stanley Cup Finals.

What has Brad Marchand said?

Brad Marchand scored two goals in Game 2 which included a game winner in double overtime that helped the Panthers win 5-4 against Edmonton Oilers on Friday night. After the win, Marchand reflected on how his recovery process went.

When you miss three, three and a half months of training, it takes a long time to get it back and start feeling again. Your timing, your hands, your power, speed, conditioning - it all takes a long time to get back, Marchand said.

It's just so tough when everybody's doing the same thing every day, but it's exciting to be part of this group and just having fun.

Not just this, Marchand even had surgeries for his elbow, groin and abdomen issues during the offseason, but made a return during the season opener. But, he suffered upper body injury in March, which saw him miss game time for a brief period.

In the second overtime period on Friday, Marchand broke free as he got a great pass from Anton Lundell. Leon Draisaitl tried to stop him but couldn't as Marchand slipped the puck through Stuart Skinner's five-hole.

When asked if he got his stick on the backhand shot, Marchand said,

You know, to be honest, I blacked out. I don't even know.

For the Edmonton Oilers, Evander Kane, Evan Bouchard, Corey Perry and Leon Draisaitl all scored goals. Sam Bennett, Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov scored the goals for Florida Panthers.

Skinner made 38 saves during the match and Sergei Bobrovsky had 42 stops to his name to help his team secure a victory.

Brad Marchand on the team's mindset

When Brad Marchand was asked about the mindset of the Florida Panthers' locker room, he mentioned that the team's experience and leadership were the key factors behind their resilience.

He feels that many players in the team have been through high pressure moments in the past.

A lot of guys have been through big moments and feel comfortable in them. We have so many different leaders who can manage different situations. We definitely have that confidence that we can be resilient.

Game 3 will now be played on Monday night at the FLA Live Arena. The seven game series is tied at 1-1.