MONTREAL — One of the reasons the Boston Bruins hired Jim Montgomery was because of his amicable approach with his players. Montgomery is not the type of coach to let loose on his charges.
Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens was an exception.
Montgomery was not happy with Brad Marchand. At 4:48 of the third period, with the Bruins down 2-1, the captain told referee Chris Lee what he thought of a hooking penalty that went uncalled. Lee did not like what he heard. The official sent Marchand off for unsportsmanlike conduct.
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“You can’t take those types of penalties. It’s inexcusable,” said Montgomery, whistled for abuse of officials himself late in the Bruins’ 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Nov. 4. “The refs ref games. The players play games.”
Marchand might have had an argument. He had entered the offensive zone when a stray Montreal stick appeared to impede his progress.
“I don’t know how it gets any more obvious than the call that he missed there,” Marchand said of Lee. “But I can’t let my emotions get the best of me there.”
Brad Marchand gets sent to the box for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the Montreal crowd loves it. pic.twitter.com/GNxMVwSkBA
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 12, 2023
Elsewhere, Montgomery’s usage signaled his dissatisfaction with others.
Fourth-liners Jakub Lauko, Johnny Beecher and Oskar Steen were all under 10 minutes of ice time. Trent Frederic, stout in his last game next to James van Riemsdyk and Charlie Coyle, played only 11:58. Matt Poitras played just 12:30, the second-lightest workload of his career. Danton Heinen was on for 12:55. Mason Lohrei logged a career low 15:21.
“I know I didn’t like their games,” Montgomery said when asked about Beecher, Poitras and Lohrei making their first Bell Centre appearances. “But I didn’t like the games of a lot of people. First line. Fourth line. I thought our D pairings were good. I thought our D in general held us above water. Because they were getting a lot of odd-man rushes against.”
The Bruins were up 1-0 after 40 minutes. It was a deceiving lead. They scored first on the opening shift. Charlie McAvoy, returning after his four-game suspension, sifted in a puck from the point. Pavel Zacha was in the high slot for a deflection past Sam Montembeault. McAvoy, paired with Lohrei, did not look like he had any initial rust.
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“Just good to be back,” said McAvoy (two assists, three shots, team-high 26:44 of ice time). “Overall, a lot of good. Some stuff I can work off of. Just good to be back in the fold. Getting back in a routine and just being involved in the day-to-day is as big a part of our job as anything — the rhythm and the routine of our jobs and what we do. To be out of it sets you back a little. But I thought overall, I was OK with where I was, having 11 days off. Happy with some stuff. But I’ll keep getting better.”
Jeremy Swayman, however, was the biggest reason the Bruins were ahead. He was perfect on 17 shots through two periods. Swayman, unbeaten in six previous starts, was in full command of his toolbox: fast, square, quick, composed.
But in the first minute of the third, with Sean Monahan setting a screen, Swayman looked the wrong way when Nick Suzuki wound up from the right-side wall. As Swayman peeked to the right around Monahan, Suzuki’s shot beat him on the left side.
Twenty-seven seconds later, the Canadiens pulled ahead. Swayman stopped a Kaiden Guhle point shot. But Brendan Gallagher, parked in his usual net-front territory, found the rebound and swept a forehand around Swayman to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
“Have a little drift backwards,” Swayman said when asked how he could have approached Gallagher’s threat differently. “I think I got up with both feet. I need to just stay down and trust my edges. He’s a competitive player. Obviously, he’s been there for a while. He plays hard and plays the right way.”
Swayman did not like how hard Gallagher played him later in the third. The fiery Montreal forward jammed at a puck Swayman had covered. The goalie gave Gallagher a shot. Gallagher responded by swiping Swayman’s mask off his head. That got Swayman even madder. He gave it right back to Gallagher.
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“Ten times a night,” Swayman said of such situations. “Nothing different.”
Swayman was still hot enough after the sequence to stare down Montembeault. Swayman raised his hands at his opponent. Montembeault stayed in his net.
“Let him know I’m there,” Swayman said.
When asked whether he wanted Montembeault to leave his crease, Swayman didn’t back down.
“If it calls for it,” Swayman said of a goalie confrontation. “I’m not going to say yes or no. It didn’t happen, obviously. So nothing to talk about.”
Marchand tied the score with a power-play goal at 12:58 of the third. But Guhle scored in overtime to leave the Bruins with one point.
“No. No,” Montgomery said when asked whether he had every player going. “We had players in moments playing OK. But for the majority, it looked like it was a team thing, not an individual thing. So that’s why we’ve got to look at what we’re doing internally to get rest and have energy for the game tonight. Because it didn’t feel like our schedule had been that taxing.”
(Photo of Brad Marchand: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
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