Bruins Notes: Jim Montgomery Points Out Issues In Loss To Golden Knights

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery wasn’t taking a glass-half-full approach following Boston’s 2-1 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena.

Despite registering a point for the third straight game, it was also the third consecutive loss for the Bruins. The Bruins aren’t doing the little things to come out on the winning side of these close contests and it’s clear Boston’s five penalties, one of which led to a third-period goal for Vegas to open the scoring, irked Montgomery.

“(We’re) trying to be consistent with our game plan and unfortunately we took too many minors, too many sticking penalties again,” Montgomery said, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.

Montgomery wasn’t thrilled with the offensive performance, either. Boston’s attack came on strong in the third period and received a goal from Matt Grzelcyk, but the team’s forwards were shut out as Montgomery believed there were shortcomings with the game plan and execution at that end of the ice.

“I don’t think either one of them we’re good enough,” Montgomery said.

But the cherry on top of Boston’s issues was a miscommunication in overtime that led to the game-winning goal for Vegas. David Pastrnak couldn’t stop Mark Stone in the neutral zone and expected help, but there was none to be found, leaving Stone with an easy two-on-one opportunity with Alex Pietrangelo against Hampus Lindholm.

Pastrnak couldn’t get back in the play and Stone dished it off to Pietrangelo for an easy finish to seal a Vegas win.

“I think there was confusion by two players about who was on the guy that had the puck and both let him go,” Montgomery said. “Created a two-on-one and they made a good play.”

Here are more notes from Thursday’s Bruins-Golden Knights game:

— There are no moral victories in the immediate aftermath of another overtime loss for the Bruins. Despite getting another point, the Bruins are now 2-8 in games decided in overtime this season.

“We’re not satisfied with this at all,” Morgan Geekie said, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “We got a lot more to give. When you look back on it, it’s good to get a point, but it still hurts nonetheless.”

— Mason Lohrei will have plenty of bruises to illustrate his solid defensive effort. The 22-year-old defenseman blocked a game-high six shots in his 15:34 of time on ice.

— Jeremy Swayman was a tough-luck loser as he stopped 23 of 25 shots. Swayman’s counterpart in Logan Thompson had one of his best showings between the pipes for Vegas by making 32 saves.

“At some point we’ve got to help (Swayman) out. He played great for us,” Geekie said.

— The Bruins conclude their four-game road trip with matchup against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, and you can watch the game, plus an hour of pregame coverage, on NESN.