Jim Montgomery Addresses Lopsided Calls In Bruins OT Win Vs. Senators

Despite being called for more than a handful of penalties in the game, the Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators in overtime at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday night.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery addressed the amount of infractions Boston was assessed in the game.

“I don’t think we dodged a bullet,” Montgomery said. “I think we took about eight bullets.”

The referees put Boston skaters in the sin bin three times in the opening frame, five times in the second period and once in the third. Some of the penalties were matched by the Senators, but the Bruins penalty killers found themselves on the ice attempting to stop the Ottawa power play on six opportunities.

“They had six power plays; we had one … that is one-sided,” Montgomery said. “Our penalty killers, some guys get a lot of ice time in those situations, and they battled through it. I liked the way we were able to get back to our 5-on-5 game.”

With the Bruins serving 18 minutes in penalties, Montgomery had to limit the ice time of players who don’t usually skate while Boston is shorthanded.

“It’s tough to get certain guys out (on the ice) if they don’t penalty kill,” Montgomery explained. “A guy like (David Pastrnak) probably had his all-time low in minutes played tonight, and that’s what happens when you gotta kill that many penalties.”

The Senators capitalized on two of the six opportunities, while the Bruins scored on their lone man-advantage courtesy of Pastrnak.

Boston may have been north of the border for the matchup, but the amount of Black and Gold fans in the crowd didn’t go unnoticed by Montgomery.

“It’s fantastic,” Montgomery said of the crowd. “I know we only play 41 games at TD Garden, but it feels like we have 65 home games with the way our great fans travel.”

The Bruins head further into enemy territory when they travel to Philadelphia to take on the surging Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday afternoon.