Boston Bruins News: David Pastrnak Benched, Brad Marchand & Charlie Coyle's Absence

Sunday night’s 2-0 shutout of the Seattle Kraken didn’t come without controversy for the Boston Bruins. In the third period and nursing a 2-0 lead, head coach Jim Montgomery decided to bench star David Pastrnak and after the game, the third-year coach said it was a coach’s decision. Monday after practice at Warrior Ice Arena, Pastrnak addressed the decision and that’s where we’ll begin this edition of Boston Bruins News.

David Pastrnak addresses benching vs. Kraken

The decision to bench Pastrnak was surprising, to say the least. Through 40 minutes, he registered seven shots on the net but had some turnovers and giveaways that simply can’t happen. Monday, he addressed the matter following practice before the team left for Toronto for tomorrow night’s game against the Maple Leafs.

"That was a bad turnover,'' Pastrnak said. "I just want to move forward. I don't want to be any distraction to our team. The guys know how I feel about them here. It's a bad play. I take accountability and already moving forward."

The last time Montgomery called out his superstar, he responded with a Game 7 game-winning goal in overtime to eliminate the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs last spring. We’ll see how Pastrnak responds after his benching.

Brad Marchand & Charlie Coyle missed practice

Two players were missing from Monday morning’s workout, Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle. Both players were given a maintenance day according to Montgomery and with Marchand, it’s not surprising after offseason surgeries. Coyle had a strong weekend against the Philadelphia Flyers and Kraken, scoring a first-period power-play goal Sunday night.

Montgomery says his team is not where they want to be

Let’s be honest, there were a lot of eyes this weekend on the Bruins after back-to-back losses to the Flyers and Carolina Hurricanes, 8-2, on Halloween night. The response from the Black and Gold? Two shutouts, but Montgomery is not ready to turn the page yet and say his team is back.

"I'm not there yet,'' said Montgomery. "Just being honest, there's too many lapses in our game right now. We need to continue to build on it. We're better. But we're not where we need to be."

He’s 100% correct. You saw lapses first-hand against Seattle in the third period. The Kraken outshot the Bruins 12-3 and if it wasn’t for a couple of posts, the game might have gone into overtime. To his team's credit, they were blocking shots and making life easier on Jeremy Swayman, but again, too many lapses instead of having the instinct to put the game away instead of letting a team hang around.