Jim Montgomery Bluntly Criticizes Bruins After Loss To Panthers

The Bruins didn’t bring their best to their regular-season opener Tuesday night. Far from it.

Boston suffered a 6-4 loss to Florida at Amerant Bank Arena, but the final score didn’t indicate the tilt’s competitiveness. The Panthers blitzed the Bruins, owning a 4-1 lead at the first intermission and pushing their advantage to four halfway through the second period.

Jim Montgomery acknowledged the B’s “weren’t good in so many areas” in their highly anticipated matchup with the reigning Stanley Cup champions. The head coach highlighted a series of those shortcomings after the final buzzer sounded.

“Their execution was really good. Our execution was really poor,” Montgomery told reporters, per a team-provided video. “I can’t pinpoint why we looked slow, but we looked slow the entire game — not just the first 10 minutes, in my opinion.”

Montgomery added: “Could have reloaded better. Could have had an F3 on the strong side better. Should have read the rush better.”

The 2023 Jack Adams Award winner also came to the defense of goaltender Joonas Korpisalo, who endured a rough Bruins debut while Jeremy Swayman watched from the bench.

Boston will try to rebound and secure its first win of the season Thursday night when it hosts the rival Montreal Canadiens. NESN will carry full coverage of the Bruins’ home opener beginning at 6 p.m. ET.