What Jim Montgomery Told Bruins After Game 6 Loss To Panthers

BOSTON — It was déjà vu for the Boston Bruins on Friday night.

The Bruins skated off the ice at TD Garden with the Florida Panthers putting an end to Boston’s season for the second consecutive year under Jim Montgomery. This time it came in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Panthers coming out on top, 2-1, thanks to a goal from Gustav Forsling with 1:33 left in the third period.

The season-ending defeat left Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery to pick up the pieces and he opened up what he told his team after another stinging defeat to the Panthers in the playoffs.

“I thanked them and it was an honor to coach them because of the hard work and the competitiveness they brought throughout the year,” Montgomery said. “That was the biggest thing I wanted to get across, and that you’re never happy when you don’t win your last game of the year. Some players had tremendous growth this year and they can be proud of that. And in the end, we have to find ways to get better and win our last game of the year.”

Bruins captain Brad Marchand, who missed the previous two games of the series due to a concussion, echoed a similar sentiment to Montgomery as the Bruins captain said he was “proud” of the group.

“A lot of disappointment, obviously. It’s been quiet. Trying to take in what happened,” Marchand said of the scene inside Boston’s locker room after the loss. “We expected better. It’s tough when the season ends. End of the day obviously only one team gets to win the last game of the year. We still thought that we had more in us.”

Montgomery didn’t have an answer to if he would do anything differently in the series, but said he would have one in the coming days.

The Bruins have had terrific success under Montgomery in the regular season with Boston posting a 112-32-20 record the past two season. But that success hasn’t exactly translated over to the postseason. Boston is just 9-11 in the playoffs with eight of those losses coming at home.

Montgomery and the Bruins certainly will be searching for a solution to those woes as they’ll have to wait until next year to get over this hump and exact some revenge on the Panthers.