Jim Montgomery will still be the Bruins coach when they face the Flyers on Saturday in Philadelphia in a rematch of Tuesday’s dud.
After Thursday’s 8-2 embarrassment in Carolina that left Boston tied for last in the Atlantic Division, Montgomery’s hold on a job he’d previously thrived in seemed at best tenuous. But if the Bruins were going to make a move before the weekend, they’d likely have done it on Friday.
So Montgomery and his team have at least Saturday against the Flyers and Sunday at home against the Kraken to right the ship.
- BETTING: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
The 2024-25 season was always going to be a long-term referendum on Montgomery, who came into this season on the final year of a three-year deal. Without giving him an extension, upper management was silently waiting to see. Could he take a roster designed to be better built for the postseason and make a deeper playoff run?
That question figured to be answered in the Spring not this early in the season. But the Bruins were playing like a team at risk of not making the playoffs at all at 4-6-1.
Regular season had never been a problem for Montgomery. He’s been an incredibly successful coach from October to April in Boston. His .743 winning percentage entering this season was the best in Boston history.
The 2022-23 Bruins collapsed in the postseason. After entering the playoffs as Stanley Cup favorites, they flamed out in the first round. Montgomery spent a good portion of the following offseason taking the blame for that.
The Bruins then lost key players to retirement (Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci), free agency (Tyler Bertuzzi and Dmitry Orlov) and salary cap-pressured trades (Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno). Boston arguably overachieved with last season’s roster. They finished second in the Atlantic Division before losing to eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida in the second round.
With money to spend again in free agency, the Bruins added Elias Lindholm to fill their top center role and a lot of size. The idea was that they’d be harder and tougher to play against in the playoffs, and perhaps they will be.
But so far they look slower, less skilled and out of sync. It’s unclear whether Montgomery is the problem of if the roster doesn’t work as currently constructed. But whether or not Montgomery is responsible for the problem, he hasn’t uncovered a solution yet despite continuous tinkering. And management can’t take a mulligan for the roster.
The last guy the Bruins fired went to Vegas and quickly won a Stanley Cup. If they fire Montgomery and whoever replaces him can’t fix the problem either, the spotlight shifts to Don Sweeney and probably Cam Neely.
Moves to sign Tyler Johnson and summon somebody — probably Fabian Lysell although he’s struggled — are due if only to inject something different into the lineup.
The Bruins canceled practice on Friday, which many folks on Twitter thought was a sign of an imminent coaching change. Instead, it was resting legs with three games in four days. But with no morning skate before Saturday’s 1 p.m. game and probably none before Sunday’s 5 p.m. game, there’s no opportunity to overhaul anything system-wise.
The Bruins players will send a message one way or the other. If they play hard and with urgency, it’ll be interpreted as trying to play for their coach, which could buy them time to find cohesion. If they don’t, surviving Friday could just be prolonging the inevitable.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
