Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery had a night to sleep on his team’s 2-1 overtime loss to Toronto in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series on Tuesday and remained in a foul mood about it by Wednesday.
The Bruins entered Tuesday’s game with a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series and could have eliminated the Leafs with a victory on home ice. Instead, Boston is headed back to Toronto for Game 6 on Thursday, knowing the Leafs have life again.
“We wanted to review the game and where we went wrong,” said Montgomery. “We started talking about where we needed to get better. Some of that’s physical. Some of it is mental. Some of it is staying in the moment. I don’t think we did a good enough job staying in the moment last night. That’s what we’re looking for [in our] next game.”
“There are a lot of discussions that go on, but in the end, I end up making decisions that I was really confident were best for the Boston Bruins,” said Montgomery. “And when it doesn’t work out, I understand it’ll be second-guessed, third-guessed, and fourth-guessed. I understand that it comes with the territory. Just like when you make changes, and it works out. It’s the same thing. But I’m comfortable with the decisions I made, why I made them, and the criticism that comes with them.”
The Bruins’ missed opportunity to polish off the Leafs puts them in uncomfortably familiar territory. Last spring, Boston was the league’s reigning President’s Trophy winner and jumped out to a 3-1 series lead over the eighth-seeded Florida Panthers. The Bruins failed to close out the Panthers in three straight tries and unraveled entirely with a stunning first-round playoff exit.
Boston has done well this time around as the road team, taking both Game 3 and 4 in Toronto that put the Leafs on the ropes. spell the end of another disappointing Leafs postseason.
That’s why Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe stressed the importance of his team keeping Thursday’s game in perspective, focusing on what they could build from rather than worrying about the venue.
“Quite honestly, [being home again] means nothing,” he said. “We have to approach the game no differently than we have on the road in terms of our plan and what’s required. We don’t have to impress anyone. We don’t have to do this or that, we have to win a game.”
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