But not even magic could buy them anything more than a single goal in a 4-1 loss to the Capitals.
And as for the Bruins, a team that hasn't won in eight straight games, a lack of scoring seems to be the rule rather than the exception. The trio of Wheeler, Krejci and Ryder combined for 15 shots against Washington but also missed some open-net chances as well as a penalty shot, by Krejci, in the second period.
"It is frustrating, especially my line," said Krejci, who did score a power-play goal in the first period. "How many chances did we get? I don't remember the last game we had with that many chances. We just couldn't bury it. So this is really bad and it is very frustrating the way the game went. It was a tough one."
The Bruins outshot the Capitals 42-25 but were unable to solve rejuvenated Washington netminder Jose Theodore, who has now won eight straight games. But while Krejci wasn't exactly discrediting Theodore or any of the goalies who have shined against the Bruins lately, he was more concerned with the fact that his team just can't seem to find the twine these days.
"I wouldn't give him credit for as much as he did," Krejci said of Theodore. "We had 42 shots. I don't think he was that good to stop us. We got him to make mistakes and we couldn't bury those chances."
Ryder acknowledged that his line was finally clicking, but he understands that it's the end result that matters for this team right now. And they aren't getting the results they want.
Furthermore, Ryder said that he and his linemates met prior to Tuesday's game to figure out what they needed to do to find that chemistry and to start producing. But, unfortunately, while the effort and chemistry were there, the goals weren't.
"We know that we had to be better and we want [our line] to be a difference-maker. And if we start playing well, we figure we can turn things around," Ryder said. "We're doing a lot of good things out there. We just can't seem to find the back of the net."
Head coach Claude Julien had mentioned earlier in the week that he hoped to see more from this line and that they needed to create more offense. He didn't see the offensive results on Tuesday night, but he did see more chances.
"I thought two games ago, they didn't generate much," Julien said. "They did more [Tuesday] and again you try and create some chemistry that they had last year. I thought they showed a lot of that tonight. So if that can continue to happen, then we can build on that kind of stuff and all of a sudden get the goals, then that's what we'll be looking for."
