Just over 16 months have passed since Jim Montgomery was named the best coach in the NHL. It is not long enough for the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner to have forgotten how to execute his livelihood.
Similarly, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak were recently considered among the NHL’s best at their positions. Just four months ago, the Boston Bruins thought so highly of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov that they invested $84.25 million in the unrestricted free agents.
Time flies.
The Bruins have seemingly bottomed out after their 8-2 beatdown on Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes. This came after a 2-0 loss to the rebuilding Philadelphia Flyers.
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 1, 2024
Neither loss was an outlier. There were red flags from the start.
Now, they are 4-6-1 and last in the Atlantic Division. You know what usually comes next in the NHL.
It may not be fair for Montgomery to take the blame. President Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney built a roster they believed would be a playoff contender. Over time, perhaps 20 of the 23 underperforming players — Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke being the exceptions — will find their way.
But the Bruins are running out of time. Montgomery has yet to find a fix for any of the Bruins’ problems.
Not only that, it’s getting worse.
Following the loss to the Flyers, Montgomery and the Bruins identified puck play as their primary shortcoming. Montgomery made his most drastic roster changes yet by promoting Beecher, Kastelic and Koepke and breaking up the Lindholm-Pastrnak combination.
One game later, the Bruins never had the puck enough to make plays at all.
To wit: They had zero five-on-five shots in Thursday’s first period. Their first five-on-five puck on net arrived on Pyotr Kochetkov at 12:54 of the second period off Pastrnak’s stick. The score was 6-2. Jeremy Swayman had already been yanked.
“We’ve got to learn from tonight’s game,” Montgomery told NESN after the loss. “We can learn from them. But most importantly, we’ve got to be predictable to each other.”
Max Jones, a healthy scratch for the three previous games, was on the ice for three Carolina goals. Mason Lohrei, benched for part of the first period against the Flyers, was manhandled down low by Jordan Martinook before Jack Roslovic’s second-period goal. Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau were nowhere to be seen on the backcheck before Dmitry Orlov’s first-period goal. Marchand and Pastrnak had one five-on-five shot apiece.
Montgomery is in the last season of his three-year contract. Before the start of the season, Sweeney acknowledged there had been discussions about an extension. How far those talks have proceeded is unknown.
The Bruins are scheduled to practice at the Flyers Training Center on Friday. They will play Philadelphia on Saturday and host the Seattle Kraken on Sunday. The pending results may dictate how management proceeds with Montgomery.
“Right now, we’re not happy,” Montgomery told The Boston Globe after Thursday’s bludgeoning. “Nobody’s happy with what’s going on. But we will get out of it. We will be better. Hopefully it creates a better result come playoff time.”
(Photo: Josh Lavallee / NHLI via Getty Images)
