For 82 games, first-year Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery pushed every button and never once missed.

So much so that you’d think this was a simulation out of an EA NHL franchise mode where you decided to shut the game off and start over if you made the wrong call. But it was in real life and wins just kept on piling up. Everything Montgomery did and didn’t do paid off for the Bruins. By March, it felt like the entire beat seemed unable to invent any new challenges for Montgomery and the Bruins because we all knew the ending. Big game? Win. Having to carry on with a concerning injury? Win.

It simply never stopped.

But when the lights got brighter and the coaching battle of a seven-game series intensified, Montgomery wilted, the wins stopped piled up, and the stunning results of a missed opportunity auto-saved before Boston could restart the game.

• And the way it all collapsed — and with Montgomery looking more spectator than coach all the while — was something that’s truly difficult to shake.

  When the Bruins traveled down to Florida for Games 3 and 4, Montgomery set the tone by essentially poking fun at the sky-is-falling takes surrounding his team after a single loss, and said that the Bruins were relishing the opportunity to go down to Florida and make a statement. Montgomery also made a notable tactical adjustment, with Matt Grzelcyk thrown into the lineup amid the Bruins’ breakout problems. Montgomery also navigated through a roster that was missing both David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron, and had Linus Ullmark in game-time decision land.

  The Bruins (somehow) returned to Boston with a 3-1 series lead, and that’s when everything went south.

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  Apr 19, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery and his players sit on the bench during the final moment of their 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers in game two of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports)

• With Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron successfully rushing his way back from a herniated disc in his back to get the OK for Game 5 in Boston, Montgomery decided to put his 37-year-old captain back in the lineup. Montgomery went ahead with that plan, but decided to ice Bergeron without Brad Marchand to his left, splitting the duo up by design for the first time since Jan. 2015. (Yes, you read that right. It was the first time the Bruins started a game with Bergeron and Marchand on different lines in over eight calendar years.)

  Montgomery decided to instead begin Bergeron’s night with Tyler Bertuzzi and David Pastrnak on his wings. That line ultimately played less than two minutes of five-on-five time together, and were outshot 1-0. That one Florida shot, by the way, ended up in the back of the Bruins’ net in what was a disastrous first-period for the Bruins.

  When Montgomery reunited Bergeron with Marchand, the Bruins outshot Florida by a 14-2 mark in 11:19 of five-on-five, but the push ultimately didn’t matter in what was a 4-3 overtime loss that gave the Panthers life.

  “I think the only thing I can look at right now and say I would have done different is starting Game 5, I would have had Bergeron and Marchand together, it took me eight minutes to get to there,” Montgomery admitted. “Don’t know if it makes a difference, but you know, that’s the only thing that I look at right now that I would change.”

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  Feb 1, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, forward Brad Marchand (63) and forward Patrice Bergeron (37) on the bench against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. (John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports)

• This wasn’t the only time that Montgomery almost needlessly put his lines in an absolute blender that made you think there was some sort of secret menu to the Black and Gold’s configuration of a roster that had just spent 82 games kicking the absolute piss out of the entire league.

  Game 5 finished with a previously-unseen third line combination of Garnet Hathaway to the right of Taylor Hall and Charlie Coyle as the B’s second-most deployed trio at five-on-five. Any other night, that’s Trent Frederic to the right of the Hall and Coyle duo. That was a line that served the Bruins well in 2023, too, from Frederic’s career-high 17 goals to a five-on-five sample that saw the Bruins hold a plus-20 edge in shots (106-86), plus-6 edge in goals (11-6), and plus-36 edge in scoring chances (117-81) in 189 minutes of Hall-Coyle-Frederic on the ice.

  But Frederic was a healthy scratch in what Montgomery later called a “gut decision.”

  The decision to sit Frederic was a puzzling one if you looked at the data beyond his 0-0-0 line through four games. Through four games, Frederic ranked sixth on the team in individual expected goals (0.70), fifth in individual scoring chances for (7), and his four individual high-danger scoring chances ranked third on the team.

  A year ago, Bruce Cassidy probably does the same thing and scratches Frederic. But for 82 games, Montgomery and the Bruins hyped up Frederic and dealt with cold spells on the scoring front in the name of furthering his game and earning the eventual payoff. To deviate from that plan with a 3-1 series lead felt like an overreaction.

  Jakub Lauko skated in Frederic’s place, and never played more than 7:32 in his three postseason outings, and was assessed two minors (one of which was a brutal call, you gotta admit) in Game 5. Lauko also lost almost 10 pounds with a stomach virus just before the end of the regular season, and really only drew into action when the Bruins were resting guys late in the season. Whether or not he was put in the best position to succeed is a legitimate question.

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  Apr 21, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery talks to center Jakub Lauko (94) during the third period against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)

• The miscalculations on the backend also became glaring.

  Montgomery’s aforementioned decision to throw Grzelcyk into action upon noticing the Bruins’ struggles with the Florida forecheck paid off for two straight victories in Sunrise, and though the Bruins dropped Game 5 in overtime, that goal was ultimately on Ullmark infinitely more than it was Grzelcyk.

  That didn’t stop Montgomery from going back to Connor Clifton in Game 6 in what could only be described as a pure disaster of an outing for the hot-or-cold Clifton. In addition to a charging penalty that derailed the momentum the B’s had started building in the first period, Clifton also had two nightmarish giveaways that ended up in the Boston net, and ultimately made the difference in what was a 7-5 loss for the Bruins.

  Speaking after the game, with Boston’s self-inflicted goals against approaching the 10-goal mark at this point, Montgomery referred to the Game 6 head-to-head as a great hockey game.

  It was not what you wanted to hear in that moment. It may have been the very last thing, in fact.

  But the trickle-about effect of moving Grzelcyk and Clifton in and out also had a frustrating impact on the rest of the Boston roster. With Grzelcyk out, the Bruins insisted on going with a top pairing that featured Dmitry Orlov to the left of Charlie McAvoy atop the B’s depth chart. This pairing simply didn’t have it, and the Bruins were an undeniably better team when they balanced Orlov, McAvoy, and Hampus Lindholm on separate pairings. This was true in the regular season, and it was true during the seven-game sample you got in the postseason.

  The Bruins’ biggest issues on the backend in this series, however, came with their inability to adapt and adjust to a Florida forecheck that constantly put them on their heels. It got more glaring with each passing game, and by the end of it, I’m not sure if you’ve seen a less confident Bruins defense when it came to handling the puck. It straight-up spooked the entire Boston defense, which finished without a single goal over the course of the seven games, and left Montgomery without an answer following his team’s elimination.

  “To give you a real intelligent answer about that right now, I just can’t contemplate about it,” Montgomery said when asked why they couldn’t handle Florida’s forechecking pressure in the seven-game series loss. “I felt we had the right personnel and I have to take some responsibility for not being able to get us to play north quicker.

  “So if I can answer that right now, I’d say it lies on me.” 

  This is where it feels worth noting that the Bruins did not hold a single practice between their Game 5 loss and Game 7 defeat. They stayed off the ice Thursday, held a morning skate ahead of Friday’s Game 6 loss, stayed off the ice Saturday, and then held another morning skate ahead of Game 7. In fact, the Bruins held just one real practice following Game 4 of this series, and that was on the Tuesday before Game 5.

  As helpful as video can be, the noticeable discomfort that the Bruins’ defense seemed to have playing the puck — as well as some leaky support at the blue line from the forwards — couldn’t help but make you think that some extra time on the ice could’ve done this team some good amid their collapse.

• But the most brutal gaffe of all for Montgomery came to his handling of the net ‘rotation’ between Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman. I mean, this was a next-level implosion. And that may be putting it lightly.

  It felt clear off the jump that Montgomery was somewhat against the idea of a rotation in net in the playoffs. It was always more of a “we’re not against it” than it ever was a “hell yeah, let’s ride with that.” Despite that being the backbone of the team’s success in 2022-23, with the Ullmark-Swayman tandem capturing the Jennings Trophy as the league’s stingiest tandem, and by a heavy 36-goal edge over the second-place Hurricanes.

  Part of that hesitancy on the part of Montgomery obviously had to do with what was a sensational year from Ullmark, who won the goalie version of the ‘Triple Crown’ as the league leader in wins, save percentage, and goals against.

  But it was clear that Ullmark was battling through something (the Bruins themselves considered him a game-time decision ahead of Game 3), and while the performances remained strong, the play ultimately began to dip and while the Bruins had ample opportunity for Swayman to get in a game.

  Holding court in a Sunrise hotel between Games 3 and 4, Montgomery noted that Swayman was a possibility for Game 4. The Bruins looked at their 2-1 series lead, as well as the extra day of rest between Games 4 and 5, and saw a window for their 1B to get a start. They stuck with Ullmark, and while Ullmark absolutely delivered until the Bruins decided that a near-fight with Matthew Tkachuk was enough to keep him out of any further Game 4 nonsense, the window for a Swayman start remained. Hell, it only got better, if you ask me.

  A Game 5 start with a 3-1 series lead is about as close to a consequence-free start that the Bruins could have given Swayman this postseason. (The only thing better would’ve been a Game 4 start with a 3-0 series lead.) Even if Swayman had lost, the Bruins could’ve found the moral victory in getting Ullmark what would’ve been four full days of rest between his next start and going back to a building where he was 2-0 in the series.

  Oh, and Ullmark was 23-2-0 with a .940 save percentage with three-plus days of rest in 2022-23, by the way.

• 

  Nov 1, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman (left) replaces goaltender Linus Ullmark (35) in the net against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at PPG Paints Arena. (Charles LeClaire/USA TODAY Sports)

• But during that window, the Bruins stuck with Ullmark for Games 4, 5, and 6.

  Ullmark got worse with each passing game, with Game 6 being his true bottoming out, with six goals on 32 shots faced. Montgomery said he contemplated an in-game switch to Swayman in that back-and-forth Game 6, but ultimately decided not to because Ullmark “had that look in his eyes.”

  The look in Ullmark’s eyes failed to make a difference, and forced the Bruins’ hands and put Swayman in the worst spot possible, as the Bruins turned to Swayman for Game 7 and after a 17-day break between starts.

  Montgomery did his part to gas Swayman up ahead of the start. He called Swayman the most confident person he knows, and compared giving him the Game 7 start to giving the ball to Roger Clemens in Game 7 or giving the ball to Tom Brady with two minutes left in the fourth quarter with your team in need of a touchdown. What was not mentioned in those analogies, however, is that Clemens would also make a Game 1 or Game 3 start before his Game 7 start, or that Brady would’ve been given 58 minutes to win the game before his two-minute drill.

  After the Game 7 loss, which came with highs and lows from Swayman in a 27-of-31 performance, Montgomery made no mention of eyes or feelings, and instead passed the buck to goaltending coach Bob Essensa.

  “We just thought [Swayman] was going to give us the best chance tonight,” Montgomery said of the decision to go to Swayman for Game 7. “You’d have to ask goalie Bob [Essensa] a little more in detail about that, but we all thought that he was going to give us the best opportunity tonight.”

  Yeeeeesh.

  Montgomery has often cited Essensa when it comes to all things goaltending, but doing it after a self-made mess and deviation from what made you the best regular-season team in NHL history is a tough look.

• 

  SUNRISE, FL – APRIL 28: Head coach Jim Montgomery talks to Brandon Carlo #25 of the Boston Bruins during a break in action during the game against the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

• While anything less than a Stanley Cup was always going to be a disappointment, to see the coach who quite literally could do no wrong for 82 games press almost every wrong button over the course of three straight defeats was stunning. It simply was. And this wasn’t even a case of a veteran head coach like the Panthers’ Paul Maurice putting Montgomery in a pretzel, but rather Montgomery putting himself in a pretzel and galaxy-braining every single decision that he either did or did not make over the course of an excruciating slow burn.

  “The way it ended didn’t matter, how it ended, it just — the season’s over,” Montgomery said. “I guess the words that come to mind right now are disappointment [and] confusion.”

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