Jim Montgomery’s Nuanced Response To Maple Leafs’ Brad Marchand Quips

You’ll never believe this, but the Bruins and Maple Leafs are on opposite sides of the Brad Marchand debate.

Marchand and the Bruins put forth their best effort of the series Wednesday night and regained home ice with a 4-2 win in Toronto for Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round set. Marchand was the best player on the ice, scoring two third-period goals and adding an assist.

In addition to contributing to the score sheet, Marchand did a lot of the little things to lift his team. Unsurprisingly, that involved mixing it up with the Maple Leafs, going back and forth with Tyler Bertuzzi all night. Toronto wasn’t pleased with how Marchand’s game was officiated, with Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe even taking a shot at the Boston captain in his postgame press conference.

Given a chance to respond to Keefe’s gripes, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery instead decided to praise Marchand’s maturation and ability to meet the moment on the biggest stage.

“That’s new, I think it’s age, right? But the two years, last year, I don’t think he took a penalty last year in the playoffs,” Montgomery told reporters in his postgame press conference. “Obviously, everybody in the playoffs targets the other team’s best players, and he gets targeted. He still manages to get under people’s skin, and he doesn’t cross the line. It’s something you have to tip your cap to him because of his maturation as a player and as a person.”

Quite frankly, Keefe’s postgame comments were more likely gamesmanship than an actual critique of Marchand. He wants more opportunities for his team, despite Toronto going 0-for-5 on the power play Wednesday night, so he brings that up after the game to bring even more attention to it. The hope is the Leafs get a call in Game 4.

But as Montgomery pointed out in his praise for Marchand, there’s something to be said for not dwelling too much on the moment and instead moving on.

“I just think there’s a burning intensity in him to win, and he doesn’t care about what just happened,” Montgomery said. “Good or bad, it’s gone, and he’s onto what’s next.”

The Bruins hope what’s next for them is a Game 4 win. The two teams meet again Saturday night in Toronto.