BOSTON — When the Arizona Coyotes erased a two-goal deficit less than six minutes into the third period Saturday night at TD Garden, first-year Boston Bruins coach Jim Montgomery remained unfazed.
That was probably the opposite feeling Bruins fans were exhibiting at that moment, but early on in his tenure, Montgomery had good reason to believe his team would come up with a response.
“I think there’s trust in the process, I think there’s trust in each other and I think everyone is pulling on the same rope right now,” Montgomery said. “You don’t see anybody thinking about themselves. We thought we were in a really good place. I know we gave up the two-goal lead, but we were generating more chances, we had the puck in their zone and we just thought if we just stuck with the process that we would prevail, and luckily we did.”
The Bruins stuck to the script that worked for them through the first two periods, tallying three unanswered goals over the final 10:31 of play — the key goal coming from Derek Forbort — to secure a 6-3 win over the Coyotes.
This was the second time in as many games Boston was forced to fend off a rally. In their season opener, the Washington Capitals got within a goal after the Bruins built a 3-0 lead. Boston finished strong in that one too, scoring twice in the final frame while holding the Capitals scoreless.
It was more of the same over the crucial stretch against the Coyotes, with the Bruins rising to the situation, something Montgomery is certainly encouraged by this early on in the season.
“In a lot of areas we were better tonight and we played a team that was hungry,” Montgomery said. “Things didn’t go really well in their first game. Human nature is they’re going to come back and they did. They played really hard and you could tell how physical and how hard they tried to go to our net. And I just liked the way we responded. Two games in a row the third period is our best period and that’s a good thing.”
Here are more notes from Saturday’s Bruins-Coyotes game:
— After having a few key players already out due to injury to start the season, it was imperative the Bruins stayed healthy early on during their campaign. That hasn’t happened. Jake DeBrusk didn’t play in a home opener due to an upper-body injury suffered Wednesday against the Washington Capitals, and the Bruins lost defenseman Brandon Carlo after the first period versus the Coyotes.
Carlo got checked into the boards late in the opening frame and didn’t come out for the second period. The Bruins announced Carlo with an upper-body injury and Montgomery didn’t have an update on him after the game.
— Strong starts have aided the Bruins in their first two wins. Boston scored twice in the first period against the Coyotes and have now outscored their opponents — albeit being a very small sample size — 4-0 in the stanza this season.
— Nick Foligno reached a milestone in the win. The veteran forward notched the 500th point of his career with an assist on a goal for Pavel Zacha, which opened the scoring. Foligno later added to his point total by redirecting a goal on a shot from the point by Connor Clifton to give Boston a 3-1 lead at the time.
“It was nice to get off to a good start for our group (with) two wins,” Foligno said. “Nice to contribute. I’m feeling good. I feel healthy and I’m excited. I like what are lines are all doing, that’s been the most fun.”
— The Bruins had a penalty-filled sequence to begin the second period, which really was the start of Arizona’s comeback. Boston committed three infractions in just over five minutes. The Coyotes took advantage of their first man-advantage with Clayton Keller finding the back of the net. A trip on Taylor Hall set up the power-play goal and that’s now Hall’s third penalty already this season. The talented winger has to clean things up going forward.
— It looks like Trent Frederic got the message after being a healthy scratch in the season opener. Back in the lineup, the left winger suited up on the third line and registered an assist on Charlie Coyle’s first-period goal. Frederic later dropped the gloves for a brief scrap with Coyotes’ Liam O’Brien.
— The Bruins welcome in a much stiffer challenge to TD Garden on Monday when they host the Florida Panthers. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.
