Montgomery’s message to Trent Frederic? ‘Hunt and hit.’

BOSTON — Trent Frederic did not have the training camp he would have liked. The same goes for new coach Jim Montgomery, who chose A.J. Greer to start at left wing on the third line over Frederic in the season opener.

But hockey being what it is, Frederic didn’t have to wait long for a spot to open up. When Jake DeBrusk went down with an upper body injury in the season opener in Washington on Wednesday, it opened up a spot in the lineup for Saturday’s home opener against the Arizona Coyotes.

Craig Smith bumped up to skate in DeBrusk’s spot with Patrice Bergeron, Greer moved over to play on the right side with Charlie Coyle and Frederic was set to slide into the left wing spot.

Frederic has admitted that he was a little too concerned with making mistakes in the preseason, playing too conservatively. As a result, he was a step behind.

“I felt like I was chasing a little bit,” said Frederic.

Montgomery had just two directives for him going into Saturday night — hunt and hit.

“For a lot of players when they’re thinking too much, you try and give them one or two things to think about,” said Montgomery after the B’s optional morning skate at the Garden. “And for him, I just told him to hunt and hit. Go hunting out there. That kind of mindset gets you on your toes, gets your feet moving. Usually you impact the game. And he’s had his best practices here the last three practices in a row, so I’m excited to see how he hunts and hits tonight.”

For Frederic, playing with Coyle represents a comfort zone of sorts. The 24-yearold played the best hockey of his young career in the second half of last season when he was playing with Coyle and Smith.

“I’m used to playing with Chuck. We’re good friends. He makes it easy, he’s a good communicator. He’s easy to play with,” said Frederic.

He’s got much more limited experience with Greer, but they did play together in the preseason.

“I had fun,” said Frederic. “He’s fast and he slashes across nice. He’s a left winger, so I know he’s coming across, which makes it easier. He’s a good guy. He’s talking a lot too, so it makes it easy.”…