Bruins fans were speculating about the health of their favorite forward tonight as he did not take a single shift during the 3rd period in a tight game against the Seattle Kraken. Several fans even noted that he was skating during TV timeouts, and appeared to be trying to shake something off.
However, the real reason Pastrnak did not play in the period has since come out. Montgomery said in his post-game comments that he did not play in the period solely as a coach's decision. In other words, it was Montgomery himself who kept Pasta off the ice. With that being said, Montgomery refused to elaborate as to why he made that choice.
Montgomery has been on the hot seat this season with many speculating that his days with the Bruins could be numbered as the team continues to struggle. However, tonight's win did bring the team back to .500 which is a small step in the right direction. Technically, the team even moved back into a playoff spot tonight although their grasp on it is tenuous at best. Still though, Montgomery is confident that the Bruins will turn things around sooner rather than later. This is what he had to say about the team after their last loss which came against the Carolina Hurricanes on Halloween night.
Since the veteran head coach made these comments, the Bruins have gone 2-0, and have consecutive shutouts. This is a huge statement from the team after they gave up eight goals to Carolina.
For Pastrnak though, it is hard to imagine what more Montgomery wants from him. He currently leads the team in goals and points and is consistently generating offense. Even tonight he had 7 shots on goal before being benched. That tied his season high for shots in a game, even though he had a season-low in ice time with under 15 minutes. We will just have to see how he responds on Tuesday when the Bruins take on the Toronto Maple Leafs.