Days earlier, Schenn and Marchand fought for the puck on several occasions during Tampa Bay's 7-1 victory in Game 3 on Wednesday that gave them a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. But those battles seemed moot, Schenn said, when the Lightning came off the ice to discover NBA players had boycotted their playoff games to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday.
"In light of what happened, after you get a win, everybody's high fiving and celebrating," he said. "After the last game it wasn't like that at all. We came into the room and were made aware of what was going on, and the conversation quickly shifted. I think, obviously, you're in the middle of a playoff series, but there's more that happened outside of the game itself."
By Thursday, foes had become friends for a united cause.
"Before we did anything we were talking to four or five Bruins," Schenn said. "So you play literally, what, 10 hours before, and the next day it's nothing to do with hockey. It's all based on what's going on in the world right now and how it affects all of us on different levels. You're having these conversations and, well, personally I almost forgot we'd played them the night before and we're about to play them again. It's strictly based on racial issues and how we can continue to grow and educate ourselves.
"On top of that, we were talking to four or five Bruins and then another guy on our team says 'Let's make sure the Flyers and Islanders are aware.' Next thing you know 30 or 40 of us are having a meeting."
For some players, the conversations during the past two days have already had a profound effect.
"For me, it's about action," Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield said. "I've already reached out to our community relations director, just about setting up things outside the rink, what we can do, start brainstorming ideas, going to minority communities, stuff like that."
It's all part of the push by the players for much-needed change at all levels of the sport.
"Just hearing stories of young players that don't feel safe, that don't feel included, that's something that just needs to stop," Mayfield said. "That just makes me sick because hockey's a place for everyone."
NHL.com staff writers Amalie Benjamin and Brian Compton contributed to this report