That's absolutely fair. Coach doing dumb ass things or not, it's on players to put forth the effort. And for 1.5+ periods last night, for whatever reason, they put forth a horrid effort and an even worse performance.
However, it goes the other way as well. Montgomery's presser indicated he didn't think lineup changes had any impact (meaning, I guess, this was on the players???).
Reality? Montgomery stunk just as bad as the players. Even worse because his decisions were made without pressure of the game. He could have sat at lunch for an hour with his PBJ sandwich and really thought about the reasons for changing a winning lineup, whether they would be worth the risk, and what if anything last year taught him on the subject. The players at least have to perform in the moment and under pressure.
Boquist A
Marchand A
Swayman A
Montgomery F
Sweeney/Neely F (for letting Montgomery do this AGAIN)