Talk about quite the rookie ride. It’s been Brad Marchand – not Tyler Seguin – everyone one is talking about and scouting for that matter, as a first-year Bruin heading into the playoffs.

After scoring 21 goals and adding 19 assists in 72 games, the Bruins winger was honored before Saturday’s division-clinching 3-2 win over the Thrashers as the 2010-11 Bruins “Seventh Player Award” given to the Bruins player who goes above and beyond the call of duty and exceeded expectations, as voted on by Bruins fans.

“Well, it was a question mark whether I was going to be on the team this year, so it’s a honor to win that award,” Marchand said. “It’s special.

“I think I was expected to be defensively responsible and bring energy into the game. Now I think I still have to do the exact same thing, but maybe bring a little more offense.”

Marchand celebrated the honor by picking up his 20th assist on Boston’s first goal Saturday, a score by Mark Recchi.

Technically still a rookie after 20 games last season, Marchand has earned the trust of his coaching staff by playing the left wing on the team’s second line, playing with Patrice Bergeron and Recchi.

“It’s huge, they’re great offensive players,” Marchand said. “They’re both very smart. They make a lot of unbelievable plays that you don’t see coming a lot of times. So with guys like that, you’re expected to produce. It’s a pretty insane time playing with guys as good as them.”

“I think it’s very deserving and that’s certainly not to take away some of the other guys that have made tremendous steps as well,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “But, he’s one of those guys that obviously surpassed maybe a lot of our expectations, obviously not his because he had made that prediction. But nonetheless, I think he’s been a real good player for us from starting off on the fourth line and really making that line probably one of the best fourth lines we’ve had here for a long, long time and obviously was probably one of the best fourth lines in the League.

“He graduated obviously with Bergy [Patrice Bergeron] and Rex [Mark Recchi] and those guys have certainly, as much as he’s benefited from them, they’ve benefited from him as well. They know that. He’s such a good skater and he plays hard every night. He’s been a real good player for us and I think it’s going to be exciting to see him jump into the playoffs, just by the way he is. He’s going to be pumped for that and I think he’s going to be a really good asset for our hockey club.”

Marchand is expected to receive consideration for the NHL’s Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie. The favorites are considered Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and San Jose’s Logan Couture.

But that obviously isn’t the trophy foremost on Marchand’s mind.

“We didn’t come into this season wanting to win this division,” Marchand said of the Northeast title Saturday. “We have a goal, and that’s to win the Stanley Cup. So it’s a stepping stone, and it’s a good accomplishment for a great team. But there’s a long way to go before we accomplish our goal. It’s special, but at the same time we’re a long ways away.”

The name of the game was easy goals in the first period Saturday, and thanks to a softy allowed by each team, the Bruins and Thrashers are tied at one.

Mark Recchi scored his 14th of the season when a shot from Patrice Bergeron trickled through the legs of Ondrej Pavelec and needed just a tap-in to make it 1-0. The Thrashers tied it up when Tuukka Rask took a delay of game penalty and let a Dustin Byfuglen shot bounce off him and in. The Thrashers are 1-for-2 on the power play, while the B’s are 0-for-1.

The Bruins are outshooting the Thrashers, 6-4.

After scoring 21 goals and adding 19 assists in 72 games, Bruins winger Brad Marchand was honored as the 2010-11 Bruins “Seventh Player Award” given to the Bruins player who goes above and beyond the call of duty and exceeded expectations, as voted on by Bruins fans.

Technically still a rookie, Marchand has earned the trust of his coaching staff by playing the left wing on the team’s second line, playing with Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi.

Marchand celebrated the honor by picking up his 20th assist on Boston’s first goal Saturday, a score by Mark Recchi.

Marchand is expected to receive consideration for the NHL’s Calder Trophy, awarded to the league’s top rookie. The favorites are considered Carolina’s Jeff Skinner and San Jose’s Logan Couture.

Bruins forward Mark Recchi, who passed Paul Coffey for 12th all time in regular season points Tuesday, said after the game that he intends to retire if the Bruins win the Stanley Cup this season.

“If we win a championship, I’m gone,” Recchi said.

Recchi has won the Stanley Cup twice in his career, hoisting the coveted trophy as a member of the Penguins and Hurricanes. He said that he likes the idea of winning it with an Original Six team, and that if the Bruins don’t win this season, he could consider coming back.

“We’ll see,” Recchi said. “We’ll see if I can recover. Obviously take three weeks, a month, see if my body and my head is ready to get back in the grind physically doing the stuff I need to do to get ready for next year.”

Tim Thomas picked up his ninth shutout of the season Tuesday night as the Bruins blanked the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, 3-0, at TD Garden.

Thomas made 32 saves on the night, improving his record to 33-10-8.

After a scoreless first period, the B’s got second-period tallies from Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk. Nathan Horton provided the Bruins with some extra breathing room in the third period when he beat Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford his 24th of the season.

The win brought the B’s within three points of the Capitals for second place in the Eastern Conference, as Washington lost in a shootout Tuesday. The B’s have played 76 games to the Capitals’ 77. Should the teams end up finishing the season with the same point total, the Bruins would likely hold the tie-breaker, as they currently have more wins in games determined in regulation.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- Mark Recchi now has 12th place on the list of career points all to himself. His assist on Johnny Boychuk’s goal gave him 1,532 points, breaking his tie with Paul Coffey. Recchi would need to play another season to get to Ray Bourque‘s 1579.

- Thomas was in danger of giving up the league lead in goals against average a couple of weeks ago, but his play of late has given him some separation from Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne. Thomas has allowed just one goal over his last three starts, the second time he has had such a three-game stretch. The Bruins did an excellent job of clearing loose pucks in front of the net from the get-go Tuesday, greatly helping Thomas’ cause.

- The interesting story line of Michael Ryder‘s healthy scratches could continue, as Paille has made good use of his spot in the lineup the last two games. Paille picked up a helper on Horton’s goal, getting the puck in front from behind the net.

- Don’t look now, but Johnny Boychuk has two goals in his last four games. Of course, he had just one goal on the season prior to his goal against the Canadiens last Thursday, so the chances anyone worries about his scoring touch aren’t very big.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

- The Bruins did not have a power play the entire game. It was the eighth game that they have had one or zero power plays. Interestingly enough, they are 7-0-1 in those games.

- Shawn Thornton left the game in the second period after getting cut above the eye and did not return. Bleeding from the face, Thornton shoved referee Don VanMassenhoven as he was passing the Chicago bench on his way off the ice, seemingly because Blackhawks were chirping from the bench.

- Another night of solid play but no production from the third line. Tyler Seguin and Chris Kelly had an opportunity on Crawford in the first period, but Seguin’s pass in front of the net was just out of Kelly’s reach. Seguin has just one goal over his last 15 games.

The defensemen came through for the Bruins in the second period, as the B’s lead the Blackhawks, 2-0, on goals from Zdeno Chara and Johnny Boychuk.

Chara fired a wrist shot at a crowded net, and the puck deflected off Chicago defenseman Brian Campbell before sailing past Corey Crawford at 12:02 for his 14th on the season. Just 2:20 later, Mark Recchi dropped a puck off for Boychuk, who beat Crawford from the point. Boychuk now has three goals on the season.

With the assist on Boychuk’s goal, Recchi surpassed Paul Coffey for 12th place in career regular season points with 1,532. Recchi is now 12th all-time.

Shawn Thornton left the ice after being cut above the eye with a skate. He was visibly furious, shoving referee Don VanMassenhoven in an attempt to get to players chirping from the Chicago bench as he skated off.

The Bruins are outshooting the Blackhawks by a 30-17 margin.

Brad Marchand is one of four Bruins with at least 20 goals this season. (AP)

Bruins forward Brad Marchand was itching to get his 20th goal of the season and his career, and though he called his recent span of 12 games without a goal a “frustrating” experience, was able to put things in context.

Prior to his goal-scoring drought, which he ended with the game winner Sunday and Philadelphia, the longest Marchand went this season without a goal was the first eight games of the season. Comparing the two stretches, Marchand can look at how he’s gone from a rookie struggling to score his first goal to one of four 20-goal-scorers on the B’s.

“That did creep in my mind a little bit,” Marchand said of remembering the beginning of the season. “I knew if I kept pressing and kept doing the little things right, it was going to come.”

Marchand, who remembers when cracking the lineup was his biggest obstacle prior to the season, said he wasn’t concerned about potentially being a healthy scratch during his recent skid. He was suspended a game for his hit on R.J. Umberger, but he never thought about Claude Julien extending his time off the ice.

“Every time you step on the ice, you go out and do your job,” Marchand said. “That’s all you can ask for. You can’t really worry about that stuff. When you start letting that stuff creep in your head, it might affect your head.

“I never really thought about [being a healthy scratch]. It never crossed my mind, I just wanted to go out and do my job every night. If I happened to be in the stands, then that’s how it goes.”

As for now being a 20-goal scorer, Marchand was not given the puck from the play. Instead, the puck went to teammate Mark Recchi, who put up a more impressive number. In assisting Marchand’s power-play tally, Recchi picked up his 1,531st point. He is now tied with Paul Coffey for 12th all-time.

Marchand is no stranger to sarcastic chirping, but he said there was no argument put up over where the puck went.

“I’ll just go buy a puck. I don’t really care,” he said with a laugh. ”I’d probably lose the puck anyway.”