In a season that has been a roller coaster ride, the Boston Bruins needed two points against a Philadelphia Flyers team chasing them for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. In a game that seemed to get away from them in the third period, the Boston Bruins needed an extra spark before it was too late.

That spark came from Brad Marchand, who scored the two most important goals of the 2014-15 season for the Black and Gold.

“Yeah I thought we had a pretty good game and it’s always nerve wracking when they go up by a goal with a few minutes left. But it shows the character that we have in this room to be able to bounce back and to be mentally tough in that situation,” said Marchand, who scored the tying goal with 14.1 seconds left in regulation and minutes later, the overtime winner. “Again, we’re very happy with it and want to keep going.”

Although his profile comes with some baggage, Marchand’s importance to the Bruins is crucial. From going to the dirty areas and battling for loose pucks, to playing with that widely known edge that he has, and scoring crucial goals, the fifth-year Bruin is having one of his better seasons in a year full of adversity.

After a disappointing playoff in 2014, Marchand has stepped up in a big way. His tying and game winning goals are just another example of that.

In particular, his tying goal where he went in front of the net to deflect Dougie Hamilton’s shot from the point – with Tuukka Rask pulled to set up a 6-on-4 power play. That just proves that he can fill in for any situation and, as crazy as it may sound, matured into a well-rounded forward in part due to his off-season routine.

“I think we’ve mentioned it that he didn’t feel like he had trained properly, and he just felt like he was getting tired quickly, and then he trained a little differently this year and his stamina is a lot better than it was last year,” head coach Claude Julien said about Marchand’s consistency this season. “It makes a big difference.”

Although some bounces went against the Bruins, they got the breaks they needed to get against the Flyers, especially in overtime.

Prior to Marchand’s game winner, Tuukka Rask, playing in his 36th game of the last 40 B’s contests, made a crucial pad stop on a breakaway by Jakub Voracek to keep things tied at 2-2.

Moments later, Marchand struck with the game-winner for his team leading 21st of the season.

“Yeah it was huge. Voracek is a phenomenal player, one of the top scorers in the league and for him to have a breakaway is always nerve wracking but having a guy like Tuukka back there it’s nice,” Marchand said about Rask (29 saves) “He’s made a lot of huge saves for us and we won that game with that save.”

With injuries plaguing the Bruins in 2014-15, Marchand has had to step up. He did just that in a pivotal game against the Flyers – a game that could be the turning point for this year’s Black and Gold.