The Bruins' blazing start is now a fading memory, as they have now won just one of their last five games after a 2-0 loss to the Senators Saturday night at the Garden.
That lone win featured a five-goal outburst in the third period for a 7-4 win at Pittsburgh, but they haven't been able to produce anything resembling that offensive attack at home, where they are now 2-4-1. That includes the season-opening loss to Phoenix in Prague when the Bruins were officially designated the home team, but they've had plenty of struggles at the Garden as well.
They've dropped three straight in Boston, scoring just two total goals in those contests. Overall, they have just 10 goals in six games at the Garden, compared to 26 in six road games and five in the two neutral-site matchups in Prague.
"It just hasn't gone in for us the last couple games," said Bruins forward Mark Recchi. "We've played OK, not great. You've got to create your own breaks. We're close, but we're not like we were earlier in the year and we've got to get back to that and be more consistent."
Bruins coach Claude Julien gave the Bruins a day off from practice on Friday after feeling the team had lost its legs in Thursday's 3-1 loss to Montreal. But they didn't come out with much more energy in this one, even with captain Zdeno Chara dropping the gloves four minutes into play with Chris Neil, who had picked a fight with Dennis Seidenberg in the clubs' previous meeting in Ottawa last month.
Chara's efforts at payback didn't sway momentum to Boston's side as Ottawa opened the scoring at 9:34 of the first when Erik Karlsson scored through a screen in front. Daniel Alfredsson added another on a backdoor cut early in the third and the Bruins simply couldn't answer.
They managed to put 31 shots on Ottawa netminder Brian Elliott, but they lacked the transition game to create quick strikes and the effective forecheck to force turnovers that were the hallmarks of their success earlier in the season.
"I think we’ve lost our transition game," said Julien. "We’re not in sync and that's part of it, and it starts from the back end. You've got to move the puck quick and you've got to move it well. Your forwards have to be able to handle those passes, which I thought they struggled with those tonight as well, and when you've got speed and you put the puck in deep and you've got some speed to go and retrieve it, then you're in sync.
"Tonight we had none of that," continued Julien. "Absolutely none. The transition from the back end was almost non-existent. We couldn't handle a pass and then when we did end up dumping it, we never put it in an area where we gave our guys a chance to retrieve it. And that's not to, by the way, take away the credit that the other team deserves. I think they played a great game. We were just a bad team tonight."
The Bruins are confident they won't remain a bad team for long, and they'll have plenty of chances to prove that with four more games on tap next week. That includes three more dates at the Garden, where the Bruins have to start producing some wins.
"We're going to go through stretches like this," said Recchi. "You can't extend them too long, that's the biggest thing. I think we have a great group of guys in here who pride themselves on being a team that wants to do well. This is a little miniature funk and we'll get out of it."
