Bruins coach Marco Sturm explains key decision that backfired in loss to Canadiens

To say that Tuesday night's game at the TD Garden against the Montreal Canadiens was big for the Boston Bruins would have been a huge understatement. Like they have so many times the last couple of seasons, they failed to answer the bell.

Tied 2-2 through 40 minutes, the Canadiens took it to the Black and Gold over the final 20 minutes to the tune of four goals in the final 13 minutes, including two on a pair of two-man advantages for a 6-2 win. Boston lost its composure and paid for it. However, you could point to a key turning point in the game and a questionable decision from Marco Sturm late in the second period. After the game, the first-year coach addressed it.

Marco Sturm explains decision not to challenge no-goal call in second period

With 4.7 seconds left in the second period and the game tied 2-2, Elias Lindholm appeared to give Boston a 3-2 lead with another late-period goal after Alex Steeves scored in the final minute of the first period on the power play. As soon as the goal was scored, the referee waived off the goal for goalie interference. But was it really?

Replays showed Montreal's Juraj Slafkovsky pushing his goalie, Jacob Fowler, not David Pastrnak. In the end, Sturm decided not to challenge, and he explained why in his postgame press conference.

“It’s always a group decision,” said Sturm. “I think we thought David had the stick in the goalie’s pads, and he couldn’t move. And it was a non-goal call from the referee, too. So, you always have to think about that one, too. They don’t like to overrule things.”

That's fine, not to challenge, but the decision to challenge the Canadiens' game-winning goal in the third period was bizarre. Why challenge that? There was no way that it was going to get overturned. Instead, it led to Montreal's string of power plays that essentially put the game away with two more goals. A 1-3-1 homestand is not what Boston needed.