“Coach’s decision, third period. That’s all I’m going to comment on it.”
On Sunday at TD Garden, the Bruins took another step forward, recording their second straight shutout in a 2-0 win over the Seattle Kraken.
It was another encouraging return to form for the Bruins’ seemingly rudderless lineup, with numerous players rebounding after back-to-back losses to the Flyers and Hurricanes the previous week.
In Boston’s most recent victory, several players who appeared to be in Jim Montgomery’s doghouse rebounded.
Charlie Coyle scored on a power play, Trent Frederic responded to a hit on Matt Poitras by hitting Adam Larsson, and Elias Lindholm grabbed his second assist in as many games, breaking a seven-game scoring drought.
But one player could not escape the wrath of Boston’s bench boss: David Pastrnak, the Bruins’ top player, was confined to the bench for the entire third period.
“Coach’s decision, third period,” Montgomery said of Pastrnak, who finished his final shift at 17:34 in the third period. “That’s all I’m going to comment on it.”
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It’s unclear what prompted Pastrnak’s benching, but the skillful winger was called for a harsh turnover later in the second period while on the power play. While the Kraken did not punish Pastrnak with a shorthanded goal, Boston’s winger executed a dangerous sequence that could have been disastrous.
Following Boston’s 2-0 victory over the Kraken, several of Pastrnak’s teammates were queried about his benching at crunch time.
“Do we want our greatest players playing? “Yes,” Charlie Coyle said. “I don’t know the entire scope of that. I’m not sure what’s going on, and sometimes you’re so into the game that you’re just waiting to see who you’ll be with next, and there’s no time to think.
“Whatever the coach says or decides, you have to play; there’s a hockey game to be played. But, Pasta, he was not silent. He’s providing the energy. He was talking. He was into it. That is the indication of a good teammate right there. And that is why he is wearing a letter. That’s why he is one of our captains and leaders. There’s a lot to say about that.”
Despite his intensity on the bench, Pastrnak was far from a spectator for the majority of Sunday’s victory. Despite playing only 14:21 minutes, Pastrnak led Boston with seven shots on goal, drew a penalty, and blocked one.
However, with Boston’s offensive output being so erratic at this point in the season, costly blunders like Pastrnak’s in the second period cannot be tolerated.
“We all play for the same team. “There is no special treatment for anyone, and I believe that is the way it should be,” Coyle continued. “I believe we all bear responsibility. Ask any of us who have been in that situation; we’ve gotten an earful, and it’s probably for good reason.
“We are all competitive. We all want to play. We’ll all be held accountable in our own ways, and Monty will hold us to it, which will only make us stronger as a team.”
Charlie McAvoy cited Brad Marchand’s response to Montgomery’s outburst at him on the bench last month as both an example of the responsibility Boston’s head coach expects and a model for how the team’s players should respond to coaching staff issues.
“One of the things we know here and can’t get lost in is that the only thing we play for here is the crest,” McAvoy said, according to MassLive’s Matt Vautour. “It doesn’t matter about individual awards… Brad is quite interested in that. He has an old-school approach to accountability, with players keeping each other accountable.
“When Monty was yelling at him on the bench, he’s fine with that and maybe that’s something that people in today’s day and age couldn’t really believe,” McAvoy said. “He believes that players and coaches should hold each other accountable. That’s the only way to cultivate a winning culture and ensure success. So that was good to watch.”
Pastrnak will get a chance to respond to Montgomery’s challenge on Tuesday, when Boston travels to Toronto to face the Maple Leafs.
