Bruins coach Jim Montgomery still "pissed off" about OT loss to Leafs
The Bruins had an opportunity to take down the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night without Auston Matthews in the lineup, but came away empty-handed on home ice, much to the chagrin of Jim Montgomery.
The hockey world had their eyes firmly set on the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs as they embarked on an elimination game with the latter forced to play without their best player in Auston Matthews. It was an opportune moment for the Bruins to punch their ticket to the second round and to send the Maple Leafs spiralling into a chaotic off-season.
However, once the puck dropped to get the game going, the Bruins looked sleepy, hapless, and without energy. The Maple Leafs came out guns-a-blazing and shocked the home crowd when Jake McCabe fired home a slap-shot from the point past a befuddled Jeremy Swayman less than 6 minutes into the game to open the scoring.
The Maple Leafs dominated the first period and most of the middle frame before the Bruins found their legs. Trent Frederic tied the game up near the end of the first period but that was all she wrote for Boston in terms of scoring and offense. They did outshoot the Leafs 26-22 in the final 43 minutes but it was a little too late after their porous start - much to the dismay of head coach Jim Montgomery.
When asked on Wednesday how long he lets a loss like that linger, he responded with:
"I'm still pissed off from [Tuesday] night, to be honest. I don't understand or accept our play So I'm gonna be pissed off until puck drop tomorrow night."
Safe to say Montgomery didn't have a peaceful sleep after Matthew Knies scored the winner in overtime to force a Game 6 back in Toronto. However, look for a more composed, aggressive, and hungry Bruins team to show up on Thursday night, unless they want to feel the wrath of their rattled head coach yet again.
It is also worth noting that Montgomery, just like Sheldon Keefe, has just one playoff series win under his belt. It's been a long-time coming for the 54-year-old as his Dallas Stars won their first round matchup against Nashville back in 2018-19 before falling to St. Louis in the second round. After that he was fired in 2019-20 and lost in the first round to Florida last spring.
| POLL | ||
MAI 2 | 387 ANSWERS Bruins coach Jim Montgomery still "pissed off" about OT loss to Leafs Did the Maple Leafs rattle the Bruins' psyche after Game 5? | ||
| Yes, they looked like a different team out there | 279 | 72.1 % |
| Going to be tough to beat the Bruins 2 more times | 108 | 27.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
