Lots of Bruins played well in Florida over the weekend, none better than Brad Marchand.

The “Little Ball of Hate” certainly inspired that emotion in the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in solid victories Friday and Saturday. He was in the middle of everything.

Summing up, Marchand did not get in any fights. And he did not make any saves as the Bruins were covered well in that department – with goalie Tuukka Rask delivering a championship-caliber 31-save performance in the 3-1 win in Sunrise and backup Jonas Gustavsson playing equally well in the 3-1 victory in Tampa.

But Marchand did pretty much everything else. He scored three goals, made a sweet pass to set up Brett Connolly’s winner against the Lightning, drew at least three penalties, annoyed people, registered a plus-2 and just generally was a handful every time he buzzed around the rink.

The Bruins flew home late Saturday riding high – owners of a 5-0-0 road record and 6-0-1 overall mark since opening the season with three successive messy home losses. They could afford to spend Monday luxuriating, and now have to get ready for Tuesday’s Garden visit by Tyler Seguin and the Dallas Stars, which should be interesting.

Emotion is a huge part of Marchand’s game and he, and the team as a whole, should have little difficulty being ready for the next game, as they look to continue their remarkable surge.

“We’re all really excited about where our team is headed,” said Marchand, who admits to being surprised the team has turned things around so rapidly after the rocky start. “Yeah, a little bit, that it happened so quick. I think the first few games we were really trying to figure out what we were as a team and how guys fit in. We were making mistakes everywhere and we weren’t there to cover up for each other.

“But then it just seemed that we went on that first road trip and guys came together. We kind of found out where we all belonged on the team, and each guy’s role, and we all embraced it. From that point forward, we seemed to love the challenge.”

For Marchand, the challenge is to feed off the emotion and lead the way on the ice game after game.

“By his own standards, he probably got off to a little bit of a slower start,” said General Manager Don Sweeney after Saturday’s game. “March takes a lot of pride in his game. He wants to be a go-to guy. And he’s been that the last couple of nights. (Emotion) is a big part of his fabric when he’s at the top of his game.”

Defenseman Adam McQuaid understands first-hand how difficult to stop the speedy 5-foot-9, 180-pound winger can be when he’s in full “Little Ball of Hate” mode.

“He’s hard on the puck and relentless,” said McQuaid. “When he plays that way, he’s so effective. Personally, from playing against him in practice, he’s shifty and fast, and he can be difficult to contain when he’s on his game. He’s important to our team when he’s playing like that.

“I think for anybody, emotion is such an important part of the game. He’s so effective when he plays with that emotion.”

Marchand agrees.

“Yeah, for sure. I always feel my best when I’m mentally and emotionally engaged,” he said. “My head’s into the game and I’m getting into the corners and the battles. That’s where a lot of this game is won, in the battles”

And that’s how it usually goes in this game: The harder you work, the more bounces you get.

And a little dose of hate doesn’t hurt, either.

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