Bruins’ Jim Montgomery Reveals Curious Reason For Benching David Pastrnak

BOSTON — The Bruins defeated the Seattle Kraken to extend their winning streak to two games.

And they did so without the help of arguably their best offensive player sitting on the bench in the third period. David Pastrnak logged his final shift of the game at 17:34 of the second period.

“Coach’s decision, third period,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after the game. “That’s all I’m going to comment on it.”

Pastrnak registered seven shots on goal across 14 shifts and 14:21 minutes of ice time through two periods. His absence on the ice wasn’t fully explained by Montgomery, but his teammates were quick to point out that his presence was felt on the bench.

“I mean do we want our best players playing? Yeah,” Charlie Coyle said. “I don’t know the full extent of that. I don’t know what was going on, and sometimes you’re in tune to the game, you’re just kind of ready to see who you’re going with next and there’s really no time to kind of think.

“Whatever the coach says and whatever his decisions are, you just got to play, there’s a hockey game to be played. But, Pasta, he wasn’t silent. He was bringing energy. He was talking. He was into it. That’s a sign of a good teammate right there. And that’s why he wears a letter. That’s why he’s one of our captains, our leaders. It’s a lot to be said for that.”

Bruins culture has been a big proponent of the franchise and holding yourself accountable is one of the biggest aspects the players take pride in according to Coyle.

“We all play on the same team. There’s no special treatment for anyone, and I think that’s how it should be,” Coyle said. “I think we all take responsibility. Ask any one of us who have been in that position; we’ve gotten an earful or whatever; it’s probably for good reason. We’re all competitive. We all want to play. We’re all going to be held responsible in our own way, and Monty holds us accountable, and that’s only going to make us better as a team.”

Charlie McAvoy brought it all back to being proud to wear the Spoked-B on their chest.

“One of the things that we know here and can’t get lost here … the only thing we play for here is the crest,” McAvoy said. “… It really doesn’t matter the individual accolades. It really doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters here is team success. … It doesn’t matter because we just need to win. It doesn’t matter what the stat lines look like. It just matters if the Bruins get two points tonight. “

McAvoy added: “Brad (Marchand’s) big on that. He sort of has that old-school mentality about accoutablilty and players holding each other accountable. … He’s big on players holding each other accountable, coaches holding players accountable. That’s the only way to kind of breathe this winning culture, and how we’re going to have success.”