Jim Montgomery Shares His Lone Regret From First-Round Defeat

Despite this, Boston's head coach admitted to having only one regret from the round one defeat. Strangely enough, both Montgomery and goalie Linus Ullmark experienced their worst performances of the season during the opening series against the Panthers.

While it's tempting to point out numerous missteps by Montgomery, the coach acknowledged just a single one. According to Steve Conroy from The Boston Herald:

Since the 2008-09 season, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand have shared 12,842:46 of ice time together. Although this change surprised the pair, it's hard to believe that it had a more significant impact than Montgomery's actual blunder.

In retrospect, the disastrous ending could have been averted if Montgomery hadn't made his initial error in the series.

Heading back to Boston with a 3-1 series lead, Montgomery opted to start Ullmark for the fifth consecutive game, despite back-to-back games of intense pressure from the Panthers' offense.

Even if the Bruins had still lost game five with Jeremy Swayman – who played exceptionally well in the game seven loss – they would've had a rested Ullmark for game six.

But who's to say? The fault may lie with the coaching, goaltending, or players themselves. Another factor worth considering is giving credit to the Florida Panthers, who managed to exploit the NHL-leading Bruins with their relentless forecheck.

As read on Bruins Insider - Jim Montgomery Reveals His One Regret From Round One Loss.