Jim Montgomery takes blame for Bruins' lack of retaliation to Sam Bennett's hit on Brad Marchand

Jim Montgomery, head coach of the Boston Bruins, has taken responsibility for the team's perceived lack of retaliation against Sam Bennett's hit on Brad Marchand in Game 3. He suffered an upper-body injury due to the collision and he will be unavailable to play in the crucial Game 4.

Brad Marchand is the Bruins' leading scorer in the playoffs this season and his absence will definitely impact the team during the game.

NHL insider Michael Russo highlighted Montgomery's statement that Bennett's actions were beyond acceptable bounds,

"Montgomery reiterates he feels the Bennett punch was “outside the lines” and he “knew what he was doing.” He takes personal responsibility for the Bruins not retaliating, so this should be interesting tonight. #nhlbruins," The tweet reads.

Previously, Montgomery accepted that the hit on Brad Marchand looked suspicious despite what people have to say about it.

"Having seen [the replay], there's a history there with Bennett. He's a good, hard player, but there's clearly evidence of what went on. People can say it wasn't intentional. We have our view of it."

However, Florida Panthers' coach Paul Maurice denied such accusations in his Saturday's statement:

"No, and I don't think most of you would've either," he said. "It was just a collision. In a perfect world, every team has everybody healthy. Nobody likes to see him get hurt."

With Brad Marchand ruled out for Game 4, the Bruins face a challenge in finding a suitable replacement. Danton Heinen may step in, although he's been dealing with an undisclosed issue. The Bruins must regroup at this stage and aim to step up in Marchand's absence.

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Brad Marchand endured the upper body injury in Bruins' 6-2 loss

The Florida Panthers dominated on the power play, netting four goals with a man advantage in a 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on May 10. Vladimir Tarasenko and Carter Verhaeghe scored within a minute during a pivotal power play, contributing to Florida's 2-1 series lead. Sam Bennett's return from injury added more firepower.

“That was a huge opportunity for us. And we knew it, and we capitalized,” Sam Bennet said (per NHL.com).

Despite Boston's strong penalty kill record, the Panthers broke through, scoring in five of seven power plays. Coach Paul Maurice credited persistence for the power-play success.

Evan Rodrigues scored twice, while Brandon Montour added another goal for the Panthers. Boston struggled, outshot and missing key player Brad Marchand in the third period due to injury. The Bruins now face a crucial Game 4 at home where they need to win, otherwise, they will be down 3-1 against Florida.