Coyle struck for a highlight-reel tally for the second consecutive game when he picked up a loose puck along the wall in the Bruins' end and surged down the right wing in the neutral zone, before dancing through the Columbus zone and burying a nifty backhand tally shorthanded to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead just 4:30 into the second period.
"He's just a dominant two-way center that I think is really enjoying where he's being utilized, both special teams and 5-on-5 and he's relishing a lot of matches that we're giving him," said Montgomery.
The Weymouth native has, no doubt, been pleased with his performance to start the season (3-2-5 in nine games) but was more interested in crediting Pavel Zacha for the work that led to his goal against Columbus.
"Sometimes you just find yourself in situations - sometimes you create yourself, sometimes you put yourself in those situations, sometimes it's your teammates helping you. You try to take advantage of whatever is in front of you," said Coyle, whose shorthanded marker was the sixth of his career and fourth with the Bruins, which is third on the team since he joined Boston in Feb. 2019 behind Marchand (nine) and Patrice Bergeron (seven).
"It was a PK goal today, but Pav kind of drives that net and opens things up for me…I don't know if Pav gets anything for that, but he plays a key figure in that situation. That's what we're all doing."
Like his coach, Coyle was impressed with how committed the Bruins were to playing the right way even in the closing minutes of a one-side game at the end of a heavy stretch of hockey.
"Everyone's playing the right way," said Coyle. "You see it's a back-to-back, third period, it's easy to let up. But Linus played unbelievable, he made some huge saves. But he kept coming and guys are blocking shots towards the end and it's a 4-0 game, back-to-back and guys are still doing the little things. That's the sign of a good team. That's what we're all about."