Tough start to the year for the Bruins.
Boston Bruins captain Brad Marchand drew the ire of his head coach during a 2-1 overtime loss to the Utah Hockey Club in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. Utah was trailing 1-0 in the third period before a Marchand turnover led to the tying goal, causing Jim Montgomery to lose it on one of his best players.
Although the goal ended up being called back for offside, it was still a costly turnover, drawing a fiery response from the bench boss. After the goal, along with tearing into Marchand, Montgomery also gave him a shove on the shoulder to help get the message across.
Michael Kesselring would end up winning the game for Utah in overtime, dropping the Bruins to 3-2-1 in the process. The clip of Montgomery laying in Marchand went viral this week, and Marchand he admitted he was “disappointed” that the incident gained traction on social media.
“People are very sensitive these days, it's unfortunate how coaches are scrutinized over things like that,” Marchand told reporters ahead of a clash with the Dallas Stars on Thursday, per Boston.com's Conor Ryan. “There's a lack of accountability nowadays because people can't handle the heat. You make a mistake like that, you deserve to hear about it.”
The captain continued: “I'm glad that he said something about it. If he didn't, we would have a much bigger issue. The fact that's something that we're talking about is disappointing, but that's the way things are today. There's an accountability that needs to be held in this room. I made a really bad mistake in a bad time in the game. That's something that's not acceptable and I shouldn't have done to begin with. I should be held accountable in that situation.”
The Bruins are now .500 after consecutive losses to Utah and the Nashville Predators, and the squad has fallen to fifth place in the Atlantic Division. That's not at all where the team hoped to be in 2024-25, especially after the additions of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov over the summer.
Brad Marchand, Bruins off to a tough start in 2024-25
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Boston is off to a discouraging start, and so is Marchand — the 36-year-old has managed just four assists in seven games. Montgomery addressed Saturday night's interaction with reporters on Thursday.
“Between Marshy and I, there doesn’t need to be a conversation,” Montgomery admitted, per Ryan. “Him and I are both emotional people. I’m not ecstatic with myself about it, but I don’t think about it afterwards, and neither does he. He’s a pro. He’s a great player that does so many good things for us, and he has high expectations as well. So for us, that’s over and done with.”
Montgomery hasn't been hesitant to call out his star players over the last year, doing the same to David Pastrnak ahead of Game 7 against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Round 1 back in April. The Czech superstar ended up scoring the overtime game-winning goal to win the series.
It's still early, but the Bruins need to get back on track, and Marchand probably knows he needs to be better. The squad will look to get back in the win column against the Stars at TD Garden on Thursday.
