Boston put forth a historic first half and is sitting at the top of the NHL standings through 50 games with a 38-7-5 record and 81 points, which is nine points clear of the Carolina Hurricanes, who check in as the league's second-best team.
And because of all that success, perhaps a bit of adversity - especially around the All-Star break - isn't such a bad thing.
"We're ecstatic with what our record is and how well we've consistently played," Montgomery said following Tuesday's practice at Warrior Ice Arena. "Sometimes you get too immersed in the now and you tend to dwell on what's been happening. We're trying to recognize what we're doing wrong and correct it, so it doesn't become a prolonged funk.
"I think adversity only makes you better. I truly believe that. You fail in life, you get up, and you get stronger, and you get better. I think by the way we practiced today I was very encouraged by our group's mentality."
Bruins alternate captain Brad Marchand echoed those sentiments, saying that while the Black & Gold certainly want to continue their regular-season success, they are far more focused on the process, which will be crucial come the postseason - the time of the year, Marchand emphasized, that matters the most.
"You aren't going to coast through regardless. Listen, we're not that good. We're good, but we're not that good," said Marchand. "We're not going to run through this league, and we never thought that for a second. Even if you look at the games we won early on, we won because we play the right way, we play hard, and we just find a way to win. It's not like we're dominating every game. There's too much parody in this league.
"At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter what you do in the regular season anyways. We could win every game, but if we don't win in the playoffs than it doesn't mean anything."
