The defending Stanley Cup champions dropped their third decision in the first four games of the season with a 3-2 setback in Carolina on Wednesday night.
They came alive a bit in the third with a pair of goals that snapped a scoring drought of 125 minutes, 24 seconds, but it wasn't enough to secure a much-needed victory.
"Right now I think it's a matter of us trying to find our A-game," Bruins coach Claude Julien said. "You've got a lot of guys that are struggling right now. Until we get everybody playing more to the level that they can it's going to be a bit of a struggle. I sense frustration in that room for that reason. Instead we have to look more toward determination to turn things around."
The frustration is most evident on the power play. That unit was a source of much consternation throughout the playoffs, when the Bruins won the Cup despite a woeful 11.4 percent success rate (10-for-88). This season, Boston is even worse on the man advantage. After going 0-for-5 on Wednesday, and managing just seven shots in 9:53 of power-play time, the Bruins are just 1-for-18 for the year. They actually scored on their first opportunity in the season opener last Thursday, and have failed to convert 17 straight chances since.
"I think we'd all like to do a better job on the power play," Bruins captain Zdeno Chara said. "We know we can create some more chances and scoring opportunities. We just have to do the little things right. But most of all we have to outwork the four guys on the other side."
The Bruins' work ethic, which was so vital to their success last season, needs improvement throughout the contest. Several players have admitted they haven't had the proper focus and effort in these early games as the dreaded Stanley Cup hangover has proven all too real.
"I think maybe we've been on such a high for the last while with the Cup stuff and coming back in and all the hype around us," forward Brad Marchand said. "It might have been a little tough to get up for a few of the games we've played so far, but that's our job and we have to do a better job of being prepared for these games and having better starts."
The Bruins didn't start well on Wednesday. After a scoreless opening period, the Hurricanes showed that it is actually possible to score on a power play with a strike by Joni Pitkanen just 42 seconds into the middle frame. Anthony Stewart made it 2-0 in the third before the Bruins showed some life.
"We got caught sleeping a little bit," Marchand said. "They had some good momentum, got the first goal and we kind of sat back. But I thought we had a good push in the third period and we have to try to take some positives from that."
Tyler Seguin, playing his first game centering the top line with David Krejci sidelined, got Boston on the board 25 seconds after Stewart's goal and Marchand scored on a one-timer at 16:35 after Carolina had extended the lead to two goals again, but that was as close as the Bruins would get.
"We finished strong, but there were times there in the game where they definitely took it to us," Seguin said. "This isn't the way we wanted to start the season, but we have to bounce back."
The Bruins have been too busy reveling in their accomplishments from last season to realize the need to replicate the effort that made those achievements possible. Fortunately, it's still extremely early and there's plenty of time for them to regain their form and focus, and Julien is confident they will be able to do just that.
"You're seeing some effects of guys just not having found their game yet," Julien said. "And it's frustrating because other teams are coming hard at us. We've just got to persevere and fight through it. Once we turn the corner we'll be OK, but we're going to have to fight real hard to do that.
"I don't think there's any reason to panic now," Julien added. "We're a good enough team that when we find our game we're going to win more than we lose. I still have confidence in our team from what we've accomplished. I think the biggest task right now is just to find that as soon as we can."
