Jim Montgomery's seat is getting hot as Bruins struggles continue
BOSTON -- If you thought the Boston Bruins getting shut out by the Flyers on Tuesday night was rock bottom, they dropped even lower Thursday night in North Carolina. The Bruins were completely blown away by the Hurricanes on Halloween, 8-2, which is only going to make Jim Montgomery's seat even hotter.
The Boston head coach may be out of a job soon with the Bruins sitting at a disappointing 4-6-1 on the season. Much of that has to do with Boston's top players greatly underperforming, but management cannot fire the roster. So Montgomery is the one whose job is on the line.
Montgomery shook things up Thursday night in hopes of sparking Boston's non-existent offense. Fourth-liners Johnny Beecher, Mark Kastelic, and Cole Koepke all got promotions to other lines, while the top-line pairing of Elias Lindholm and David Pastrnak were broken up.
None of that mattered, as the Bruins looked disjointed again and barely got anything going on offense. The lines didn't matter after the team fell into an early hole in Raleigh. The Bruins couldn't dig themselves out, which feels like an analogy for what's to come the rest of the season.
The Hurricanes scored three goals in less than a minute
The Bruins hurt themselves throughout the game Thursday night, giving the Hurricanes five power plays. Carolina scored on three of them, and the Canes scored their first goal in the opening period during a delayed goalie interference call on Beecher.
Brad Marchand tied the game at 1-1 with a power play goal of his own in the first period, but that didn't last long. Carolina went ahead 2-1 while Koepke was in the box for interference, and 4-1 on a power play goal while Kastelic was serving two minutes for high sticking.
The game got lopsided in a hurry, as the Hurricanes scored three goals in a 52-second span late in the first period and took a 4-1 edge into the second frame.
Bruins offense remains quiet
The Bruins went without a five-on-five shot in the first period on Thursday night. They didn't get a five-on-five shot on net until seven minutes into the second period, and at that point it was already 6-2 and Jeremy Swayman had been pulled from the net.
Overall, the Bruins were outshot 37-15 on Thursday night. They had just nine shots in 5-on-5 play and five shots on five power play opportunities.
Marchand's first-period goal was just his second of the season. Lindholm notched an assist on the tally, which snapped a seven-game streak without a point for Boston's big offseason signing. Pastrnak had a pair of helpers on the night and leads the team with 10 points, but he's a minus five on the year.
The Bruins' supporting cast isn't providing much support either. Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie both have just one point, while Pavel Zacha is sitting on three. Zacha has just one point in the last nine games. That's better than top blue-liner Charlie McAvoy, who has gone nine straight contests without recording a point.
The Bruins' best players just aren't coming through in the early part of the season. Nobody really looks comfortable on the ice and the chemistry is a mess. It's led to sloppy passes, a block of blocked shots, and not a lot of scoring opportunities. Not even Montgomery's shake-up could give the team a spark on Thursday night.
Bruins Power Play remains non-existent
Marchand's goal came with the Bruins on a 5-on-3, but Boston's power play was completely lifeless the rest of the way. The B's went 1-for-5 on their power play chances Thursday night, putting just five shots on goal.
Boston has scored on just 14.9 percent of its power plays this season to rank 25th in the NHL.
Is Jim Montgomery's job on the line?
"Right now, we're not happy," Montgomery said after the lopsided loss. "Nobody's happy with what's going on. But we will get out of it. We will be better. Hopefully it creates a better result come playoff time."
The playoffs -- and Montgomery being around for the postseason -- no longer feel like guarantees for the Bruins.
The team's struggles do not fall completely on Montgomery. Boston's forward depth is an issue, and Montgomery is a player or two short in his top six. GM Don Sweeney deserves his share of the blame for these early season woes.
But Montgomery is in the final seasons of his contract, and he clearly knows that he is coaching for his job at the moment. His line shuffling didn't have the desired results on Thursday night, so he'll have to try something else Saturday afternoon when the Bruins play the Flyers in Philadelphia.
If things don't turn around soon in Boston, Sweeney may be forced to make a change on the bench to try and save his team's season.