Cam Neely: Bruins’ Effort ‘Wasn’t Where It Needed To Be’ Vs. Oilers (Audio)

The Boston Bruins embarked on their current three-game road trip north of the border on a roll.

The Bruins were playing some of their best hockey of the season, and they had the results to prove it. They won five straight games and were looking for a sixth Wednesday against the lowly Edmonton Oilers. However, that momentum seemingly stalled the second the puck dropped in Edmonton, and it didn’t pick up again until it was too late.

“(The effort) wasn’t where it needed to be,” Bruins president Cam Neely said Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger and Massarotti.” “It was at 55 minutes into the game, but prior to that, not where it needs to be to win hockey games in this league.”

It was the Bruins’ first game since a thrilling 4-3 victory over the New York Rangers on Friday, so Boston had a lengthy layoff. Neely said “it’s hard to say” if that had an impact on the performance, but he did offer another possible explanation for the 3-2 shootout loss.

“Maybe (we) thought look at the standings and see where the other team is and think it’s going to be an easier game than it really is,” Neely said. “Other teams compete, so if you don’t compete as hard as you should — their goalie played well (and) fortunately Tuukka (Rask) did for us. But the compete level wasn’t there like it should have been.”

The Bruins will look to regain that compete level Friday night against the Calgary Flames.