How Jim Montgomery Feels About Bruins At Halfway Mark Of Season

There was no way the Boston Bruins could repeat their historic output from the 2022-23 regular season this year.

The Bruins haven’t had the same level of success as they reached the halfway point of the 2023-24 campaign, but they also haven’t seen their play dip much at all even with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retiring.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery admitted he’s surprised the Bruins boast an Eastern Conference-best 26-8-9 record since they haven’t always played up to their standard.

“I think results have been better probably than what we expected,” Montgomery told reporters prior to Boston’s 3-0 shutout win over the New Jersey Devils on Monday, per team-provided video. “I would say the process has been middling. We have a lot of nights where we’re a real good hockey team. And I think when we’re winning the net-front battle and we’re not giving up a lot of odd-man rushes, that’s when I feel like we play our best and we’re playing to our identity.”

Montgomery believes the team’s special teams play and goaltending have helped the Bruins overcome their deficiencies. It’s hard to argue with that.

The Bruins have the fourth-best penalty kill and fifth-best power play in the NHL while Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark continue to shine between the pipes. Swayman was named an All-Star for the first time in his career last week.

“Special teams and goaltending, would be the primary reasons. They’ve been excellent,” Montgomery said. “You look at the seasons (Marchand) and (Pastrnak), McAvoy are having and then you look at the numerous players we use on the penalty kill and the job (assistant coach) Joe Sacco has done there. And of course, our goaltenders, they make several big saves. It’s a luxury that we have.”

Even though the Bruins sit atop the Atlantic Division, they don’t hold a comfortable lead with the surging Florida Panthers trailing them by a mere four points.

But with the second half of the season still to play out, Montgomery isn’t worried about other teams chasing the Bruins yet and is keeping his attention on his own team.

“Our focus is on our process, our details, our habits and continuing to grow as a team,” Montgomery said. “We’ve said all along that we’re a work in progress and we are. We continue to get better in areas and some areas we still need to develop as a group.”