Bruins’ coaching change ‘helped a lot’

David Krejci: Bruins’ coaching change ‘helped a lot’ originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Bruins are on pace to finish with one of the best regular-season records in NHL history. On Monday, they improved to 34-5-4 with a dominant win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

Two of the biggest differences from last season? The return of David Krejci, and Jim Montgomery replacing Bruce Cassidy as head coach. Krejci spent the 2021-22 season playing in his native Czech Republic and returned to the B’s two months after Mongomery’s hiring.

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On Monday, Krejci played in his 1,000th NHL game and was a key contributor as he finished with three assists in the 6-0 drubbing of Philadelphia. He took a moment after the victory to reflect on his return to Boston and the phenomenal season the team is having.

“I’m very thankful and grateful that they gave me a call in the summer to come back,” Krejci said, as transcribed by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson. “Obviously there’s some expectations, but I’m just glad with the way the team is playing. The record speaks for itself. I feel this could be a special year. We know what we have in this room, we don’t take it for granted, and we’ll see how it goes.”

Krejci believes the change from Cassidy to Montgomery also has played a significant role in the group’s success.

“I like the mentality of this team to stay in the moment, take it game-by-game,” he added. “Practices have been good. Obviously, the coaching change helped a lot. We’re obviously feeling good.”

Those comments seem to indicate Krejci prefers Montgomery’s leadership style to Cassidy’s. It is worth noting, however, that Krejci claimed Cassidy’s firing had nothing to do with his decision to return to the Bruins last summer.

“That would be a good story if I said ‘yes’, but no. My decision was made before they hired the new coach,” Krejci said August.

Cassidy is doing just fine at his new gig in Las Vegas. The Golden Knights are second in the Western Conference and first in the Pacific Division with a 28-14-2 record.

Regardless, the Bruins clearly taken well to their new head coach and are headed toward a historic season as a result. They have 72 points just 43 games into the season, which puts them on track to set an NHL record in that category.

Krejci has 11 goals and 23 assists through 38 games played this season. He’ll look to improve on those marks Wednesday night against the New York Islanders.