What a difference one weekend can make. On Friday, the main talking point as it relates to the Boston Bruins was whether head coach Jim Montgomery would survive the weekend, or even the day, after their slow start to the season bottomed out with back-to-back embarrassing losses, including an 8-2 thrashing in Carolina on Thursday.
By Sunday night, not only did Montgomery still have his job, but the Bruins looked reborn after a pair of dominant shutout wins over the Philadelphia Flyers (3-0) and Seattle Kraken (2-0), their first back-to-back shutouts on consecutive days since October 2008.
While the Bruins publicly were not panicking after Thursday’s loss to the Hurricanes, they knew things needed to change, and change fast. According to assistant captain Charlie McAvoy, there was some “soul-searching” that took place between Thursday night in Raleigh and Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.
“I think, obviously, there's been a lot of soul-searching going on here, a lot of people trying to find their games, myself included,” McAvoy said. “But I think one of the things that we wanted to do, just to simplify the whole process, to keep it small, was just, let's play hard, let's worry about defending, let's start from our end up. Back-to-back shutouts is a great place to start for trying to find our identity and turn it around.”
McAvoy said that soul-searching was both an individual and a group thing, and that there is more of it coming with some sort of team activity planned for this week (the details of which McAvoy did not share).
“The schedule allows for only so much,” McAvoy said. “We've been a little busy lately, but we've talked about that, and we have something coming up for that, to get together. So right now, it's been a little bit of, just individually, like, what can I do to be better? How am I going to be the best version of myself to help the team try to find it? It's been a little bit of uncharted territory here to start, and learning a lot about the mental side of it a little, just trying to find it.
“So, this is rewarding. This is nice to work for it these last two nights and to see it come our way and to see us have success. Nothing's more important than winning. Guys are going to find it at different times, but as long as the group's having success, that's the only thing that matters.”
McAvoy played arguably his two best games of the season this weekend, driving play from the back end and frequently jumping into the offense, including matching his career high with seven shots on goal Sunday.
He wasn’t alone when it came to stepping up. Captain Brad Marchand was excellent both days, and came away with three points to show for it. Charlie Coyle used his speed and strength to assert his will at both ends of the ice in a way that had been glaringly absent in October, and was rewarded with a power-play goal on Sunday. Justin Brazeau scored both days and now has four goals in six games since being a healthy scratch two weeks ago in Nashville. Elias Lindholm had assists in back-to-back games after going seven games without a point.
Nikita Zadorov played like the imposing defenseman the Bruins hoped they were getting, and he and McAvoy took some real steps in terms of developing chemistry. Hampus Lindholm was terrific at both ends of the ice all weekend. Trent Frederic stood up for linemate Matt Poitras with a fight after Poitras took a big hit from Adam Larsson. Morgan Geekie responded well after being healthy-scratched. Joonas Korpisalo and Jeremy Swayman each recorded their first shutout of the season.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though. Montgomery benched star forward David Pastrnak in the third period Sunday, once again making an example of a team leader after previously laying into Marchand on the bench two weeks ago in Utah after a bad turnover.
“Coach’s decision third period. That’s all I’m going to comment on it,” Montgomery said when asked about Pastrnak sitting.
Pastrnak was mostly playing well before the benching. His line with Marchand and Elias Lindholm was dominating at 5-on-5. Pastrnak had a team-high seven shots on goal through two periods. But, if we had to hazard a guess at the play that landed him on the bench, it would be a brutal turnover late in the second period. With the Bruins on the power play, Pastrnak tried to do way too much by himself, stickhandled into traffic, and handed the Kraken a shorthanded chance that could have completely changed the momentum had they capitalized.
Two weeks ago, Marchand said he deserved to be held accountable for his mistake and that he was glad Montgomery spoke up. Pastrnak did not speak with the media Sunday night, but we know he was OK with Montgomery calling him out during the first round of the playoffs last year. If he responds the same way this time, it could be the clearest sign yet that Montgomery still has command of this team and hasn’t lost the room. If Pastrnak responds negatively, then we’ll all have quite the story on our hands.
According to his teammates, though, Pastrnak handled Sunday’s benching with a positive attitude in the moment.
“Pasta there, he wasn't silent,” Coyle said. “He was bringing energy. He was talking. He was into it. That's the sign of a good teammate right there. That's why he wears a letter. That's why he's one of our captains, our leaders. There’s a lot to be said for that.”
Coyle also echoed Marchand when it came to supporting Montgomery’s handling of such situations.
“There's no special treatment for anyone, and I think that's how it should be,” he said. “I think we all take responsibility. I think if you ask any one of us who have been in that position, who have gotten an earful or whatever, it's probably for good reason. We're all competitive, we all want to play, but we all have to be responsible in our own way, and Monty holds us accountable. And that's only going to make us better as a team, individually, but as a team as well. I don't think guys would change that.”
McAvoy had a prediction for how Pastrnak will respond.
“I know the way that he prepares and the success that he wants to have and how much of a competitor he is,” McAvoy said of Pastrnak. “…I'm looking forward to seeing him in Toronto [on Tuesday], and I think he's gonna have a great game.”
So, the weekend was not free of drama for the Bruins. But it was free of losing. It was free of bad, uninspired hockey. The Bruins found their game, they found some soul, and they may have found an early-season turning point if they keep the momentum going.