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What Bruins captain Brad Marchand said about being benched in loss to Senators

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins suffered a crushing loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon, letting a two-goal lead slip away late in the third period before falling in a shootout. It was another disheartening defeat for Boston, one that saw team captain Brad Marchand get benched in overtime.

While Marchand was far from the only player to show a lack of effort on defense in Saturday's loss, he failed to pick up Ottawa's Josh Norris in the slot just before the Senators center beat Jeremy Swayman with 12 seconds left in regulation to tie the game. That was the second goal the Bruins surrendered in the final four minutes, and Boston lost 6-5 in a shootout to fall out of the NHL playoff picture for the first time since November.

Marchand has 21 overtime goals in his career, which ranks third all-time in NHL history, but he never touched the ice for the extra frame on Saturday. Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco didn't discuss his decision to bench Marchand at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday, and he didn't elaborate much after Sunday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. 

But it was clear that Sacco wanted to send a message to Marchand, and the coach sounded confident that message was received, on Sunday. He believes Marchand will be ready to bounce back when the Bruins host the San Jose Sharks at TD Garden on Monday afternoon. 

"It was just an in-game decision that I made," said Sacco. "Marchy and I are on the same page. So I know that he'll be -- knowing Marchy and the way he prepares and the way he works, he'll be ready to go [Monday].

"He's a true pro, so he'll be ready to go," continued Sacco. "He's dialed in all the way, 100 percent. It was just any game decision that we made."

Brad Marchand responds to being benched in Bruins loss

Marchand understood Sacco's move when he was asked about being benched on Sunday. He admitted that he's been scuffling as of late, and said his play was not good enough against the Senators. 

"He's going to make the decision based on how he feels these guys are playing each night. So, I get it," said Marchand. "It's something I have to do better."

Marchand said that players have to earn playing time in overtime, and he didn't do anything to warrant any ice time in the extra frame.

"My details weren't good enough," said Marchand, who had just one shot over 19:20 of ice time on Saturday. "In a game like that, they have to be spot on. And obviously, overtime is a big opportunity and you gotta earn that right. It's part of the game."

January has been a struggle for the B's captain, who has just one goal and is a minus-9 over Boston's last eight games. The scuffling Bruins have won just three times over their last 10 games.

Last week, Bruins president Cam Neely said the team was still deciding how to approach the NHL trade deadline in March. He left the door open to "retool" the roster, which was just a fancy was of saying that Boston could be sellers.

It's not a spot the Bruins are usually in this late in the season, but it's where they're at with a 22-19-6 record and a seat outside of the playoff field. Marchand sounds confident the team can turn things around, but said they have to approach it one game at a time.

"Still a lot of time left here and can't get caught up in what's happened," he said. "You got to look at things that we got to do better, and work on that and get ready to the next one."

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