Normally gregarious Montgomery goes gruff
TORONTO — Like his team’s play of late, coach Jim Montgomery wasn’t himself following the Bruins’ day-of-game skate Monday morning at Scotiabank Arena.
Normally gregarious and happy to deal with the media’s daily stream of questions, the 54-year-old bench boss had little to share in the hallway outside the dressing room.
Montgomery, while not rude or impolite, was terse with his comments, flat of disposition, and overall acted like a man wishing he’d pulled on a HAZMAT suit prior to the gaggle that clocked in at precisely two minutes — the length, perhaps ironically, of a minor penalty.
What was the topic in the room after Montgomery and staff reviewed videotape of Saturday’s lackluster loss to the Islanders?
“Getting back to our checking habits,” he told NESN reporter Sophia Jurksztowicz.
Why have those habits slipped of late?
“It’s probably slipped since the All-Star break,” rightly noted Montgomery to a Toronto media member’s inquiry, his Bruins having lost 9 of 13 outings before beating the Maple Leafs, 4-1, Monday night. “It’s a matter of [the coaching staff ] not delivering the message well enough and players not executing.”
What sense of urgency was his team exhibiting?
“We’ve been talking about getting our game going,” he said in reply to another local reporter’s question, “and raising our level to get ready for the playoffs.”
The entire brief session was akin to those pins-in-the-eyes media sessions that were the trademark of one Bill Belichick for most of his two-decade tour as Patriots boss. No one in the press corps was getting fat (here’s to you, Mama Cass) off the tiny morsels Montgomery dished.
It was a marked departure from how a humorous, animated Montgomery entertained media members during All Star Weekend in the city when he was the skipper of the Atlantic Division bench.
The Bruins at the time stood an impressive 31-9-9 and had just slapped down the Flyers, 6-2, in a laugher on the road in Philadelphia.
They had outscored the opposition by 30 goals in 17 games since the December holiday break. Montgomery had them rolling again, much like the record-setting 65-12-5 effort of his first year behind the Boston bench.
Perhaps the personality change will turn out to be Montgomery dialing in a change in approach as part of an attempt to recapture the attention of his charges. In the 13 games prior to Monday night’s win, the Bruins had been outscored by 11 goals, production nearly polar opposite of the pluck they demonstrated leading up to All-Star weekend.
Three of a kind
Morgan Geekie’s hat trick last Thursday, pacing a 5-4 win over the Golden Knights marked the third time this season a Bruin clicked for his first career hattie — all at TD Garden. Geekie, playing in his 235th career game, connected at even strength on all three goals. He started the scoring Monday night in the first period vs. the Maple Leafs with his 14th goal of the season.
Charlie Coyle, who scored one on the power play, another at even strength. and another into an empty net, delivered his first career hat trick Nov. 9 in a 5-2 win over the Islanders. It was his 798th regular-season game.
Danton Heinen scored twice at even strength and once on the power play in a 9-4 thumping of the Canadiens Jan. 20. It was Heinen’s 450th career game.
Fast, not fastest
Kyle Palmieri’s natural hat trick for the Islanders in the opening 12:19 Saturday, as humbling as it was for the Bruins to endure, fell far outside the NHL record for the fastest hat trick to start a game.
On Dec. 26, 1918, Cy Denneny of the Toronto Arenas clicked for three in the opening 5:15 against the Ottawa Senators.
In the game’s modern era, on Jan. 14, 1990, the Calgary Flames’ Brian MacLellan set the mark with his three, also good for a 3-0 lead, in the opening 5:21 against the Blackhawks.
Palmeiri, facing Linus Ullmark in the Boston net, opened the scoring at 3:32, and followed up at 5:27 and 12:19, for a three-goal haul in a span of 8:47.
Deadline draws near
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. Coyle came to the Bruins as the deadline approached in February 2019, making him well acquainted with what can be an unsettling experience.
“It’s weird, it is, your whole world kind of changes,” he said. “Maybe if you’re a single guy it can be a little easier . . . but if you are married and have kids, I don’t think a lot of people see that side of it. You have to pick up and move and you are moving right away, while your wife and kid have to hold down the fort. That can be a tough thing.”
General manager Don Sweeney and team president Cam Neely were not spotted in the stands during the morning workout. Typically, one or both make a point of watching the club’s workouts, and their absence led to speculation among the Boston media that something could be cooking on the trade front.
Jake DeBrusk, widely considered the Bruin most likely to be traded ahead of the deadline, finished with a goal and an assist. The goal was the lone shot he landed on net.
Hit or be hit
The teams combined on 106 hits, the most in a game this season involving the Bruins, who delivered a season-high 51. The previous combined high for the Bruins was 89 in an overtime loss Feb. 17 to the Kings. Lots of contact, for sure, but no demolition-derby collisions . . . Star Maple Leafs pivot Auston Matthews, who leads the league with 53 goals, was kept off the scoreboard despite landing five shots on net . . . David Pastrnak’s seven shots on net boosted his league leading total to 309; the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon is 13 back at 296 . . . The Bruins will face the Oilers on TD Garden ice Tuesday, and the Maple Leafs will be on Causeway Street for a rematch Thursday. The four-game homestand will continue against the Penguins in a Saturday matinee before the Blues visit town Monday... Matt Grzelcyk was felled and bloodied by a high stick while practicing as a penalty killer late in the morning skate. Bleeding around the mouth, the defenseman quickly righted himself and made his way to the dressing room for repairs. He played 20:48 vs. the Maple
Leafs.