Jim Montgomery Hopes Bruins Defenseman Had ‘Coming Out Party’ Vs. Leafs

Mason Lohrei found himself out of the Boston Bruins lineup to begin their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But after being a healthy scratch for the first two games, Lohrei made the most of his first postseason opportunity when Andrew Peeke had to take a seat due to injury.

Lohrei played in the final five games of the series and the rookie continuously made an impact. It culminated with Lohrei flying around the ice and giving the Bruins plenty of energy in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Saturday night. He logged 19:20 of ice time, sent two shots in on goal and was tied for the team lead in blocked shots with four.

In a monumental situation, Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery saw the 23-year-old defenseman grow before his eyes.

“I think he played five games — (in) the five games, three were stellar,” Montgomery told reporters, per Bruins.com’s Eric Russo. “One was a dip, and I love the way he came back from the dip. … Game 6 and 7 were really moments for him that I hope it’s his coming out party, like ‘I’m an NHL player I’m going to help the Bruins from now on,’ and knowing you belong, knowing how much you mean to growth of our team and how dynamic he makes us should be really comforting.”

Lohrei finished the series with just one assist, which came on James van Riemsdyk’s first-period goal in Game 4. But he brought dynamic play out of the defensive zone and an ability to attack an opposing defense with his speed and stick handling.

Of course there were growing pains with Lohrei during his first playoff series. He committed two penalties in Game 3 but worked back from that to gain Montgomery’s trust. The 6-foot-5, 211-pound blue liner was on the ice for 21:37 in Game 6, which was more playing time than steady veterans Brandon Carlo and Hampus Lindholm.

Montgomery and the Bruins certainly will hope this is a building block for Lohrei. And if that is the case, he could be in for a bigger role with the Bruins trying to exact revenge on the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals.