It's not hard to pinpoint why the Bruins have struggled so much lately: they've had a ridiculous amount of injuries to numerous vital players. This is not a worthy excuse though; in professional sports, every team has injuries.
The lineup reconfigurations and Providence call-ups have not done anything to stop the ship from sinking as Boston lost 5-1 to Ottawa yesterday afternoon at the TD Garden, their fifth loss in their last sixth games.
It's hard to rank defeats but yesterday's lifeless effort was at the top of that invisible but still dubious list.
Ottawa (25-21-4) scored two in the second, two in the third and one in the third to chase Tim Thomas (6 saves, 3 goals allowed). Putting Tukkaa Rask (15 saves, 2 goals allowed) in goal didn't provide any spark since he can't help the pathetic group of forwards currently skating for the B's (23-17-8).
Boston had beaten Ottawa all four times they had played before yesterday but now the Senators are tied with them with 54 points and they they seem to be getting better heading into the teams' final meeting on Saturday back at the Garden.
Daniel Alfredsson had a hat trick for Ottawa and Mike Fisher had three assists. Daniel Paille prevented the shutout with a goal in the third period which cut it to 4-1 Senators.
A still hobbled (broken thumb) Patrice Bergeron returned to the lineup but Steve Begin, Marco Sturm and Byron Bitz didn't play due to various maladies.
The Bruins have today off before practice tomorrow and then the Columbus Blue Jackets come to Boston on Thursday night.
A season that started off with such high expectations (since they had the most points in the Eastern Conference last season) is quickly devolving into a battle with futility. At this point, the Olympic break can't come soon enough for this team.
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