The Bruins are coming off back-to-back shutout victories, but coach Jim Montgomery does not believe the team is out of the woods.
All the evidence you need to know that is the fact that, in the Bruins’ 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, he took the jarring tactic of benching David Pastrnak, he of the $11.25 million yearly contract and 60-goal season on his resume, for the entire third period after he had a bad turnover late in the second period.
When Pastrnak first came into the league as a teenager, former coach Claude Julien would occasionally have to tug on his leash every now and then. Turnovers have always been part of the Pastrnak equation. It’s how you get to the magic, which has usually outweighed the sometimes negative results of his reaching for the stars.
It’s been a while since now 28-year-old Pastrnak sat for an extended period, but in speaking with reporters on Monday, the superstar owned up to his transgressions.
“Honestly, I’ve got to be better,” said Pastrnak. “I take responsibility for being better. But at the same time, I’m just moving forward today and focusing on another game (Tuesday in Toronto) and yesterday was yesterday. I never look back. So, yeah, I just came in today and worked on my game.”
Pastrnak acknowledged the boo-boo that caused Montgomery to sit him. He tried to force a zone entry at the Seattle blue line on a power play, turned it over and nearly allowed a breakaway the other way but it was cut off in time.
“That was a bad turnover,” he said. “I take responsibility for it. Accountability I guess is the best word and, you know what, I just want to move forward. I don’t want to be any distraction to our team. The guys know how I feel about them in here. It was a bad play. I take accountability and move forward.”
Asked what he thought Pastrnak’s current road block is in finding his game, Montgomery placed the player’s issues within the whole construct of the team.
“I think it’s the same thing that’s in the whole team’s way,” said Montgomery. “It’s a little bit of chemistry. It’s a little bit of people relishing their roles on our team. That’s not so much for Pasta. He knows what his role is. But if you look at the course of the season, we look disjointed at times but we’re starting to trend the right way. But a lot of that comes down to those things.”
And chemistry with his new centerman, Elias Lindholm, has not come naturally. They were split up for one game, the disastrous 8-2 loss in Carolina, but over the weekend Montgomery loaded up the top line with Pastrnak, Lindholm and Brad Marchand. It’s been better, but not exactly fluid.
“It definitely doesn’t help right now the situation but it’s still early. We hope it’s going to break soon,” said Pastrnak. “We had some better looks. In the first period, we had some time in the O-zone and we created some chances but they didn’t go in. Hopefully we’ll start to click soon.”
After Sunday’s win over Seattle, ,Charlie Coyle said that Pastrnak remained a vocal leader while on the bench, something Montgomery appreciated.
“He was incredible, very vocal, picking up players in the last 15 seconds, talking about what a great team win this is,” said Montgomery. “I’ve said this since the beginning and I’ve said it numerous times. I’m really lucky to work with the leaders I work with. I’m very fortunate. In other places, you’ve seen it with coaches, it’s a big problem and I’m lucky with the accountability that exists in this culture and the leaders that I get to deal with, because that allows me to hold everyone accountable.”
Pastrnak took that as part of his responsibility as a team leader.
“Obviously you want to be supportive of the guys,” said Pastrnak. “They have to play one man short because of my mistake, so I just tried to support and stay in the game as much as you can and be vocal.”
Toronto has been a panacea for the B’s over the years. We’ll see if the sight of the Maple Leaf gets Pastrnak out of his funk….
Montgomery was asked about the swirling speculation that the slow start has put him on the hot seat. He said he’s leaned on the tools that have helped him in his well-documented battle with alcoholism.
“The way I deal with it is there’s a great poem called “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” and it’s a lot of what I believe and the process of our team,” he said. “You can only control the present and if you worry about the past and dwell on the past, it brings up anxiety or worry or contentment, depending on what you’re thinking about. If you’re worrying about the future, which you don’t control, well then you’re really going to have anxiety. That’s where my mindset goes. And with the struggles I’ve had personally, that poem really reinforces what I need to worry about, which is the next 24 hours. And that’s the way I live my life.”
After two shutout wins, this is not the time to think the team has turned the corner.
“I’m not there yet with that. I’m just being honest,” he said. “There’s too many lapses on our game right now where we’’re not a 60-minute team and we need to continue to work on that. We’re better but not where we need to be.”…
Marchand and Coyle were given maintenance days on Monday.