Bruins fire coach Jim Montgomery after 8-9-3 start, name Joe Sacco interim replacement

The Boston Bruins have fired coach Jim Montgomery, the team announced Tuesday. Assistant coach Joe Sacco is taking over on an interim basis.

The Bruins are 8-9-3 and hold the No. 2 wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. They’re coming off a 5-1 rout against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday and have a minus-21 goal differential, second-worst in the league. Only the Pittsburgh Penguins’ minus-25 mark is lower.

Montgomery, the 2023 Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL’s top coach, was in the last season of a three-year contract. He completes his Bruins run with a 120-41-23 record. In 2022-23, the Bruins lost to the Florida Panthers in the first round after winning an NHL-record 65 games. Last season, they lost to the Panthers in Round 2.

This season, the Bruins have had all kinds of issues under Montgomery. They laid a 6-4 egg against the Panthers in the season opener. Since then, they have run the table on shortcomings. They have the worst power play in the league (11.7 percent). Their penalty kill is No. 25 (75.6 percent). They’ve taken a league-high 101 penalties. They’ve scored 31 five-on-five goals, more than only five clubs.

David Pastrnak (17 points in 20 games) is improving after a sputtering start. He does not have much company. Jeremy Swayman, who missed all of training camp before signing his $66 million contract, has a .884 save percentage. Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle and Morgan Geekie, who started the season as the No. 2 line, each have one five-on-five goal.

Did Montgomery deserve to be fired?

Whether all of this is on Montgomery is debatable.

Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins’ best player this season, is out for weeks after blocking a shot against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 12.

So far, it looks like general manager Don Sweeney whiffed on Elias Lindholm ($7.75 million average annual value) and Nikita Zadorov ($5 million), his two primary offseason acquisitions. Max Jones, another summer signing, was assigned to AHL Providence after just four games. Sweeney has been occupied with his national duties for Team Canada ahead of the 4 Nations Cup.

The team is also paying the price for depleted futures. Mason Lohrei is struggling defensively. The Bruins assigned Matt Poitras, once considered the No. 3 center, to Providence. Georgii Merkulov, the Bruins’ 24-year-old center prospect, has been up as the No. 3 left wing for the past two games. Jordan Oesterle and Jeffrey Viel, two depth players, are currently on recall from the AHL.

But Montgomery had 20 games to find answers since the season-opening stinker. With no end in sight to the tire-spinning, the Bruins had no choice but to make the move.

What to know about Sacco

Sacco was promoted to associate coach before the season. He has been on the Bruins’ staff since July 24, 2014, as an assistant for Montgomery as well as previous head coaches Bruce Cassidy and Claude Julien.

A Melrose native, Sacco has head coaching experience with the Colorado Avalanche, where he went 130-134-30 in four seasons from 2009 to 2013. The 55-year-old has also been an assistant with the Buffalo Sabres. He played 738 NHL games, mostly for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Washington Capitals.

Sacco has most recently been in charge of the penalty kill for the Bruins.