“Very disappointing day. Very frustrating. This is a reflection of our play and it was avoidable,” the captain said. “I think that’s the tough part about this. If we would have done our job in here, he’d still be around. I feel terrible. Individually, as a group, we let a really good coach and person down. And the effect it has on not just him, but on his family. It’s a crappy day.”

David Pastrnak echoed Marchand’s sentiments, calling the last 24 hours sad and tough because of the kind of person in Montgomery they lost.

“It’s always a tough day and you feel a big part of the guilt because at the end of the day, as players we are the ones performing out there,” he said. “And we weren’t getting it done and because we weren’t getting the job done we lost a great coach and an amazing human being.”

Charlie McAvoy also called Tuesday and Wednesday tough days and that Wednesday began with some self-reflection and how they got themselves into the position they are.

“It really started with a lot of reflection in here for this group and a lot of looking in the mirror (and) at the things that we’ve done to this point — myself, the team, everybody to get to this point,” he said. “And acknowledging how it hasn’t been to our standards and about trying to find the way to get it back.”

Joe Sacco will take over as interim coach for the remainder of the season as the Bruins look to get back on track. He’s been with the organization since 2014 and has learned under both Montgomery and Bruce Cassidy. And while Sacco is excited to get another crack at a head coaching opportunity — he was the Colorado Avalanche’s coach for four seasons — he admitted it was bittersweet the way it came about.

Like the players, Sacco also felt a sense of responsibility for Montgomery’s firing.

“We have to take some of the fall, to take some of the blame as far as what happened yesterday,” he said. “And I want to make sure that as a staff we try to correct this and move forward.”