Why Bruins Didn’t Retaliate After Sam Bennett’s Hit On Brad Marchand

Jim Montgomery shouldered the blame for many of the Bruins' shortcomings Friday night, including the response to an incident that might change the course of their second-round series.

Sam Bennett knocked Brad Marchand out of Game 3 with an arguably dirty hit by the benches. The shot also left Marchand out of the Boston lineup for Game 4, and it remains to be seen when the Black and Gold's captain will be ready to return to the ice.

Trent Frederic acknowledged Bennett's hit "pissed off" the Bruins, but those emotions didn't heighten until well after the game. Boston didn't retaliate on the ice Friday evening, and Jim Montgomery was asked why Sunday morning.

"I feel that that's my fault that we didn't retaliate to some degree," Montgomery told reporters, per a team-provided video. "But you're trying to get back in a game, it's 1-0 up until they get the four-minute power play and then we start the third and we score right away. Now we got juices going. There's reasons why we didn't (retaliate). But again, I think there's something that I personally take responsibility for that."

The Bruins figure to play with an added edge Sunday night. In addition to doing right for their captain, the B's will need to be the more aggressive and harder-playing team in Game 4 if they want to even the series.

The Atlantic Division rivals will drop the puck at 6:30 p.m. ET, but you can catch pregame coverage on NESN an hour prior.