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Milan Lucic's season was a disppointment to himself and to the Bruins. The rugged forward finished with just seven goals and 13 assists, and as the season wound down openly acknowledged that he needs to be better.

Lucic accepted coach Claude Julien making him a healthy scratch on April 20 against the Penguins and since then has started to put his words into action, finishing the season with two fights, a goal and two assists in his last four games. His trademark snarl seems to be coming back, leaving general manager Peter Chiarelli optimistic that Lucic -- who can be one of the most intimidating players in the NHL when he’s at his best -- is rounding into form at the right time.

“I feel really good about that. His last two games have been very, very good,” Chiarelli said in a conference call with the media. “[Lucic is] moving his feet, strong on the puck, good shooting, physical. He’s really picked up his game, and that’s the type of game we need to have success in the playoffs.”

While Chiarelli wasn’t making excuses for the player he signed last summer to a three-year extension that will pay Lucic $6 million per season, he did acknowledge that any time a player gets a hefty raise, it can weigh on him as expectations increase.

“Generally, I would say when someone signs a big extension there is pressure, whether they admit it or not,” Chiarelli said. “It puts you in a different stratosphere. And you know what, you can say that about all these guys that got extensions. [Brad] Marchand and [Tyler] Seguin got extensions and both have had levels of performance that have been good at times, and like the rest of the team, just OK at times. There is pressure when you sign those extensions, and Milan is no different than the rest of them.”

With the regular season over, the Bruins settled in at No. 8 in ESPN.com's NHL Power Rankings.

In his writeup on the team, ESPN.com's Scott Burnside wonders if the Bruins -- 2-5-2 in their final nine games of the regular season -- would be able to turn it on in the playoffs. He writes:

"It was a disappointing end to a season that came with great expectations for a deep, talented team. All of that will be forgotten if they can flip that switch we know exists in the Bruins' locker room."

The Bruins' first-round playoff opponent, the Maple Leafs, check in at No. 10 (for what that's worth).

CLICK HERE for the full rankings.

The schedule is set for the Bruins' first-round playoff series with the Maple Leafs:

Wed. May 1, 7 p.m., at Boston
Sat. May 4, 7 p.m., at Boston
Mon. May 6, 7 p.m., at Toronto
Wed. May 8, 7 p.m., at Toronto
*Fri. May 10, 7 p.m., at Boston
*Sun., May 12, TBD, at Toronto
*Mon., May 13, TBD, at Boston

* If necessary

BOSTON -- The Boston Bruins lost an opportunity to secure the Northeast Division title and lost to the Ottawa Senators 4-2 Sunday night at TD Garden.

The Bruins conclude the 2012-13 lockout-shortened schedule with a 28-14-6 record for 62 points and finish second in the Northeast and fourth in the Eastern Conference, which means Boston will face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Boston owns a 3-1-0 record this season against the Leafs.

Ottawa gained a 1-0 lead at 16:59 of the first period when the Senators’ Erik Condra scored his fourth goal of the season. Ottawa increased its lead when Jared Cowen’s slap shot from the point found its way through traffic and beat Tuukka Rask for a 2-0 advantage at 10:33 of the second period.

It appeared the second period would end with Ottawa holding its two-goal advantage, but Bruins forward Rich Peverley never stopped skating and snuck the puck past Senators goaltender Robin Lehner with just 3.4 seconds remaining in the period to capitalize on the power play.

That momentum carried into the third as Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg scored only 14 seconds into the period to tie the game at 2-2.

The Senators’ Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored the winning goal at 16:26.

SAVE OF THE GAME: With the game knotted at 2-2, Rask turned in the save of the game when he made a timely, right-pad stop on Condra during a breakaway with 12:36 remaining in the third period. Unfortunately for Boston, the Senators scored at 16:26. Ottawa added an empty-net goal with 36.5 seconds remaining in regulation.

SICK AND TIRED: Bruins forward Jaromir Jagr missed his second consecutive game due to a bout of the flu. Since arriving in Boston at the April 3 trade deadline, the future Hall of Famer has two goals and seven assists for nine points in 11 games. This brief two-game hiatus also gives the 41-year-old forward a bit of a rest before the Stanley Cup playoffs.

DROP ‘EM: Bruins forward Milan Lucic is showing signs of life in the final few games of the regular season. Since being a healthy scratch against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 20, Lucic has played with more energy and the necessary physicality to help the Bruins. At 18:36 of the first period Sunday, he dropped the gloves with the Senators’ Chris Neil in a heavyweight battle.

SCRATCHED: Bruins rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton was a healthy scratch again. He has been watching from press level in six of the last nine games of the regular season and will likely remain that way for the start of the playoffs.

NO BULL: You have to give the Garden’s bull gang kudos for having the ice surface ready on time Sunday night. With the Celtics’ playoff game going overtime and ending at 4:05 p.m., the bull gang had less than two and a half hours to complete the changeover. The Bruins’ pregame warmups began only one minute late.

AWARDS: Prior to the game, the Bruins announced their annual team awards. Forward Patrice Bergeron was the recipient of the Eddie Shore Award (exceptional hustle and determination) and the Elizabeth Dufresne Trophy (outstanding performance during home games). The John P. Bucyk Award (greatest off-ice charitable contributions) was given to Bruins forward Gregory Campbell. The Bruins’ Three Stars Awards were given to Rask (first), Bergeron (second) and forward Tyler Seguin (third).

The Bruins blew a two-goal lead in the third period Saturday night and fell to the Capitals 3-2 in overtime.

The loss could prove costly to the Bruins, who entered the day tied with the Canadiens atop the Northeast Division with 61 points. The Habs beat the Maple Leafs 4-1 on Saturday to grab the division lead.

Boston can still win the division (and the No. 2 seed) in their regular-season finale Sunday night against the Senators, a game that was rescheduled from Marathon Monday after the bombings on Boylston Street.

Here are the Bruins’ playoff scenarios:

* If the Bruins beat the Senators in regulation, they will be the No. 2 seed and face the Islanders in the first round.

* If the Bruins beat the Senators in overtime or a shootout, they win the Northeast Division and clinch the No. 2 seed, and will face Ottawa in the first round.

* If the Bruins lose to the Senators (either in regulation or OT/shootout), they'll be the No. 4 seed and will face the Maple Leafs in the first round.

"It's good that there are no games that don't matter," Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask said after Saturday's loss. "Every game has mattered this season, and that's the way it's going to be until the end."

Will the Bruins play to win the division Sunday night or rest some players in advance of the playoffs? Coach Claude Julien left little doubt.

"We want to win that division," Julien said, "so we're going to play to win tomorrow -- no ifs, ands or buts."

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- The Boston Bruins held an hour-long practice Friday morning at Ristuccia Arena as the team prepares to face the Washington Capitals Saturday night at Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

Bruins veteran Jaromir Jagr will likely not travel with the team due to a minor flu bug he’s dealing with, according to Bruins coach Claude Julien.

“He may join us tomorrow, he may not, depending on the flu bug he’s fighting right now,” Julien said.

Also, Nathan Horton (upper-body injury) won’t travel. The rest of the players are expected to travel to Washington.

“Nathan’s doing fine,” Julien said. “He’s skating every day and he’s getting better. We’re being extra cautious but we’re going to make sure to get him ready for when the time comes.”

WILMINGTON, Mass. -- The Boston Bruins have assigned defenseman Matt Bartkowski to Providence of the AHL.

The blueliner will play for the P-Bruins Friday night in Game 1 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the Hershey Bears at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center. Bruins coach Claude Julien said after Boston’s practice Friday morning at Ristuccia Arena that he’s been impressed with Bartkowski’s game and it’s likely he’ll be back in Boston for Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.

“We need him to play,” Julien said of Bartkowski’s assignment. “He’s been a real good addition to us, and if we need him, I’d rather have him having played. You may see him back Sunday, we’ll see how everything goes, but he was sent [to Providence] for the purpose of helping him out and to keep playing. We’ve liked his game. He’s been a good player for us.”

Bartkowski has played 11 games for the Bruins this season and has averaged 13:29 of ice time. He also has two assists.

BOSTON -- The Bruins have been searching for consistency as they try to recapture their identity in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs. But one hallmark of consistency recently has been the goaltending of Tuukka Rask.

Throw away the relief appearance he made in the 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday, because no goalie was going to stop the bleeding of another mental collapse by the Bruins there. What can't be ignored, though, is that with a 30-save shutout in the Bruins' 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday, Rask has two shutouts in his past two starts.

"It's important for him, obviously, and what we've been through, I think a lot of players right now, you still see certain guys fighting the puck a little bit, but at the end of the day, your goaltender plays a big role in your success," head coach Claude Julien said of his goalie's recent play. "A game like tonight, if we don't have good goaltending, the minute you get a breakdown the puck could be in the back of your net. You need a guy to stand tall and be good, and you need a guy to go into the playoffs with confidence; hopefully that's what Tuukka's creating here."

Regardless of the inconsistency in front of him, Rask seems to be entering the zone that a team needs its goalie to be in for the playoffs. An even-keel approach is crucial for a goalie, and Rask is doing his best to fall back into that mindset.

"It's huge," Rask, who is now 19-9-4 with a 1.97 goals-against average and .930 save percentage, said. "I think for a goalie really the biggest challenge always is to play your style and trust in your instincts. You have to play the game the way you always play it, no matter how each game goes. If you have a bad game, you have to go to [the] next game, and it's a challenge to not change anything, but you have to stay with your game still. That's the challenge. Right now, I think I'm able to do that, and I'm looking forward to that challenge in the playoffs."

As for the shutouts, Rask is just happy to have his game where it needs to be to help his team win and build confidence going into the playoffs.

"It's better than letting in five or six goals, for sure," Rask joked. "I don't know. Every game is different. Sometimes you just get the bounces. Today, they had a post or two. Sometimes, the puck just bounces your way, and sometimes it doesn't. I just try to feel good about myself every single game and feel comfortable out there. If it's a shutout or not, it doesn't matter as long as you play good and you win like today."

BOSTON -- Tuukka Rask made 30 saves and earned his fifth shutout of the season as the Bruins rebounded from Tuesday's forgettable performance in Philadelphia with a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Thursday night.

Dennis Seidenberg and Daniel Paille scored for the Bruins, who looked like a completely different team than the version that lost 5-2 to the Flyers on Tuesday. Boston played solid two-way hockey throughout, exhibiting more purpose and intensity.

Rask lights-out again: This was the second shutout in three games for Rask. While his team definitely played much better in front of him than they have recently, he still shut the door on a potent offense that featured the top two scorers in the NHL in Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. Rask showed great poise after a subpar performance in relief of Anton Khudobin on Tuesday. Rask really seems to be falling into that zone a goalie must be in for the playoffs. It can only mean good things for the Bruins.

Lucic playing with passion again: Is Milan Lucic finally back? While he didn't score a goal, Lucic continued to increase his physical presence and also fought Lightning defenseman Keith Aulie 17:22 into the second period. That was the first fight for Lucic since March 3, when he dropped the gloves with Canadiens forward Brandon Prust. Since being a healthy scratch last Saturday, Lucic has been skating harder and seems to be playing with an edge again. If he can translate that into some more offense as well, the Milan Lucic whom Bruins fans have grown to love might be back.

Paille and Campbell a pair of sevens: Prior to the game Thursday, defenseman Dougie Hamilton was honored with the Seventh Player Award, which is presented to the Bruin "who went above and beyond the call of duty and exceeded the expectations of Bruins fans during the 2012-13 season." The 19-year-old rookie has had a solid season -- as expected for the former first-round pick. Two players who in this scribe's eyes would've been more worthy choices would be Paille and Gregory Campbell, who connected for the Bruins' second goal. Paille now has 10 goals and seven assists and has surely produced more offense than was expected from him. While Campbell has four goals and nine assists, he, too, is an unsung hero of this team.

Pouliot a marked man: After suffering a concussion from a hit by Dennis Seidenberg the last time the Lightning played in Boston, former Bruin Benoit Pouliot seemed to have a bull's-eye on his back in the early going of this game. Early in the first period, Milan Lucic reacquainted himself with Pouliot, laying a hard hit on him in the corner, and then at 14:00 into the opening frame, Andrew Ference fought his old teammate in a very spirited battle. Not sure whether Pouliot walked out on some team tabs or not, but he was a marked man against his former teammates Thursday.

Boychuk returns to the ice and Hamilton to the press box: Julien continued to rotate defensemen in and out of the lineup Thursday as he rests his blue line up for the playoffs. This time it was Hamilton who got another rest as Johnny Boychuk was back in after being a healthy scratch on Tuesday. Up front, Julien also had Carl Soderberg back on the wing after he played center Tuesday. Here's what the lineup looked like Thursday:

Forwards
Milan Lucic-David Krejci-Rich Peverley
Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Tyler Seguin
Carl Soderberg-Chris Kelly-Jaromir Jagr
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Shawn Thornton

Defense
Zdeno Chara-Dennis Seidenberg
Andrew Ference-Johnny Boychuk
Wade Redden-Adam McQuaid

Goalies
Tuukka Rask
Anton Khudobin

BOSTON -- Rookie defenseman Dougie Hamilton was recognized Thursday in a pregame ceremony and given the Boston Bruins' Seventh Player Award.

The award is given annually and voted on by the fans to honor the player who goes "above and beyond" and "exceeds expectations" during the season. In his first year in the NHL, Hamilton, 19, has five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 42 games, including a plus-6 rating.

The former first-round pick (ninth overall) in the 2011 NHL entry draft is tied for third in the league among rookie defensemen in points (16), third in assists (11) and tied for third in goals (5).

Despite the award, Hamilton was a healthy scratch Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Past winners of the Seventh Player Award include Tyler Seguin, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask, David Krejci and Milan Lucic.

There's no other way to put it: The Northeast Division is a train wreck with the playoffs just around the corner.

That may end up meaning nothing once the second season begins, but I doubt the way the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators have played of late comforts any of their fans as the postseason approaches.

The Bruins host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night having dropped five of their past six games, unwilling to cement a division title the Habs have tried to hand them on a silver platter. Bruins coach Claude Julien was incensed after the team's road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night, saying among other things in a terse dressing down of his team: "We're running out of time to get this stuff going."

The Bruins should be able to beat a tired Tampa team Thursday night (the Lightning played at home Wednesday night) before visiting the Washington Capitals on Saturday, then closing out their season Sunday night at home against the Senators. Odds are the B's should win the beleaguered division, with the emphasis on should as a word that doesn't imply certainty.

The Canadiens? Mercy, they've fallen apart worse than any other club in the division -- and not just because, like Boston, they've lost five of their past six games. Rather, it's the manner in which they've lost: clobbered in most of those games and looking nothing like the juggernaut that surprised everyone this season. The team's defensive coverage has been porous and star netminder Carey Price has looked downright shaky.

Having said all that, I think the Canadiens finally showed some promise in the final 30 minutes against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, and perhaps that's what they build on heading into Thursday night's road game against the Winnipeg Jets. Maybe.

Otherwise, if Montreal loses again Thursday and the Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers, the Habs could lose home-ice advantage in the first round if Toronto beats them in regulation in Saturday night's season finale (the Leafs own the tiebreaker on the Canadiens).

Of course, the fact that the Leafs could end up with the fourth seed (and possibly the division title) would also have to suggest they have a clue right now. They've been outshot a whopping 183-114 over their past five games. They've won two of those five, but even in those wins, they were outshot 32-13 by New Jersey and 50-22 by the Senators.

On Wednesday night, with a golden chance to cut the gap to two points on both idle Boston and Montreal, the Leafs fell 5-2 in Tampa against a Lightning team that sits 14th in the Eastern Conference.

Combined with losses to the New York Islanders and Capitals last week, Toronto is mired in a mediocre stretch that mirrors that of the Habs and Bruins.

"There's things we have to shore up for sure," Leafs blueliner Cody Franson told TSN.ca on Wednesday night after the game in Tampa. "The last thing we're going to do is just hit the panic button over it. We know the mistakes we're making, and it's just a matter of paying attention and shoring them up."

A win in South Florida on Thursday night against the last-place Panthers would make a lot of people in Leaf Nation breathe a little easier. But just a bit.

And finally, what of the Senators?

A five-game losing streak earlier this month had people thinking perhaps the injury-riddled club had finally hit a wall. But four straight wins again made believers out of Sens fans. Then came a demoralizing home loss to the hated Leafs on Saturday, followed by another home loss to a Pittsburgh Penguins team missing Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, a game Senators players said was one of their most uninspired efforts in a while.

All of which has left the Sens just one point ahead of ninth-place Winnipeg, although with Ottawa having two more games to play than the Jets -- who wrap up their regular season Thursday night -- you have to think the Sens will get in without a problem.

Perhaps the game-changer Ottawa has been waiting for will arrive in the form of Erik Karlsson. The reigning Norris Trophy winner is on the verge of returning from what was supposed to have been a season-ending Achilles injury, taking a regular shift at practice Wednesday alongside normal partner Marc Methot, which had people in Canada's capital buzzing. Word is Karlsson and the Senators will decide after the morning skate Thursday in Washington whether it's a go that night or if he'll wait for Saturday's game against the Flyers.

The Sens will take any boost they can get, that's for sure.

Frankly, so would any playoff-bound team in the Northeast. It's ugly right now in this grouping. Somebody show the way!

BOSTON -- As the Bruins learned on Tuesday, they cannot take any team lightly at this time of the season. The Flyers, a team already eliminated from playoff contention, scored two quick goal in the second period and then embarrassed the Bruins, beating them 5-2.

Well tonight, Boston will face another team with nothing to play for except pride and the NHL scoring race as the Lightning visit TD Garden with the top two scorers in the NHL, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos. As head coach Claude Julien pointed out, teams in Tampa’s and Philly's positions aren’t fading away despite being eliminated.

“It’s a team that played a really good game last night and I watched them play,” Julien said of the Lightning. “You just have to look around the schedule the other night and all the playoff-seeded teams except for Washington lost. It goes to show you that these teams aren’t giving up, and [are] playing some solid hockey when you only got ‘x’ number of games left, and you want to finish on a positive note and play your best. That’s what we should expect from Tampa tonight. They’re going to come and play well and they have the players that can certainly be what you call spoilers and there’s more than one, so we have to be ready for them.”

On Tuesday, the Bruins were a turnover machine, making life easy for the Flyers and most likely making Julien search for antacid. The B's know that with St. Louis and Stamkos on the other side tonight, they will be in for a long game if the turnovers continue.

“Puck management is always the most important thing and you want to make sure in the gray areas you make solid plays or percentage plays,” defenseman Dennis Seidenberg said. “You want to make sure you keep the puck safe and you don’t want to turn it over. If we want success in the playoffs, we can’t let that happen. We need to be ready mentally and focus.”

The Bruins also know this game and their last two (at Washington on Saturday and vs. Ottawa on Sunday) are their last chances to find that consistent mindset.

“Consistency is something that we haven’t had in a long time,” Seidenberg said. “We need to play 60 minutes and we’re trying to get that over the next few games.

BOSTON -- Bruins forward Nathan Horton (upper-body injury) skated on his own prior to the team’s morning skate Thursday as Boston prepares to host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 7:30 at TD Garden.

Horton will not be in the lineup against the Lightning and his status for the final two games of the regular season this weekend are also questionable.

“He’s still day-to-day and he skated this morning, so he’s on the right track,” said Bruins coach Claude Julien. “Day-to-day means he’s not in tonight, but we don’t know where he’s going to be by Saturday’s game, and the same thing with Sunday, so he’s progressing well.”

Horton suffered the injury during a first-period fight with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Jarome Iginla last Saturday at the Garden.

Overall, Horton has 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points, including a plus-1 rating, in 43 games this season.

The Stanley Cup playoffs begin in less than a week, but from the way the Bruins are playing you’d think they’re either shaking off the cobwebs from the offseason or they’re looking ahead to their first tee time of the offseason.

That may seem a bit harsh, but the rapid collapse that led to a 5-2 loss to the Flyers was hard to watch to not only Bruins fans but also for coach Claude Julien, who unleashed a postgame rant that has been long overdue.

“These last three games coming up, we need a wakeup-call mentally," Julien told reporters after his team suffered its fifth loss in six games. "We need to be willing to do the stuff that’s given us success. We’re willing to do it some of the time, but we’re not willing to do it all the time. Let’s stay away from excuses because it’s not going to work. Excuses are a lot of BS right now. We have to take the responsibly and quit hiding behind those excuses because that's a load of crap.”

Julien said his players aren’t ready for the challenge of an NHL game right now and while he accepts some of the blame, he knows it’s now or never for the players to step up.

“It was really poor puck management and really poor decision-making,” Julien said. “That, to me, is a reflection of guys not being ready to play. At a certain point, they just have to take the accountability to be ready. We do a lot of work to prepare. This certainly reflects on us as well, the coaching staff and everything else.

“We’re running out of time here to get this stuff going. You always hope this is some sort of a wakeup call, but the way the season has gone you’re questioning whether it will or not. Only time will tell.”

Julien isn’t the only one who has been wondering what has happened to a team only two seasons removed from winning the Stanley Cup and a Cup favorite heading into the 2012 season. We asked three scouts for their assessments of what ails the Bruins and there was one thread throughout their replies: complacency.

Here’s what the scouts had to say:

Scout 1

"Complacency was the big issue; you don't see the intensity you did in previous years. [Milan] Lucic has little fire; young guys are too concerned with partying off the ice and they’re lacking a [Mark] Recchi-type who demanded day-to-day intensity. Every key cog on the team has his contract situation settled so everyone is comfortable there."

Scout 2

1. Signs of mortality. "In recent seasons, the Bruins have faced zero adversity when it comes to losing key players to injury. This year, in a lockout-shortened season, they have had to deal with an aging core group of players who had a long break. On one hand, it is impressive to watch a team play such a physical and aggressive brand of hockey stay healthy, but on the other, players grow so comfortable with one another that when someone does go down, they have trouble finding instant chemistry. I think that is why you are seeing so much line juggling right now by the coaches."

2. Unbalanced offense. "Say what you want about guys like Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder and Benoit Pouliot, but the one thing they brought to the Bruins’ third lines was balance and an ability to help the bottom six create both off the rush and on the cycle. The B’s third line has been imbalanced this season. They are searching for a guy that can create separation. [Chris] Bourque and [Jordan] Caron were not the answer for [Chris] Kelly and [Rich] Peverley. [Jaromir] Jagr is helping some and [Carl] Soderberg is adjusting."

3. Other teams get better. "I know it is a 'crazy thought' but every season there are teams that improve, adjust, tweak and just plan work harder. Teams like the Islanders, Habs and Leafs are all developing young players and finding ways to win hockey games. The 'cruise and bruise' philosophy that has worked in recent seasons is becoming too predictable.”

Scout 3

1. Lacking confidence. "They seem to be playing not to make a mistake rather than being proactive and making things happen."

2. Power play struggles. "They move the puck well in the zone but need to simplify it. Shoot, shoot and then shoot again! This will open up east-to-west passes. Teams dare them to shoot. The perception is that they don't have a shooting mentality.

"Also, their breakout is noneffective. My guess is when they have success, it's because [Patrice] Bergeron won the faceoff and they sustain O-zone time. When a team throws the puck 200 feet, the percentage probably goes up that the penalty will be killed."

3. Cold and lost players. "[David] Krecji, Kelly, Peverly, [Nathan] Horton and Lucic are nowhere near where they were in the past. I think Tuukka [Rask] is great one game then cold the next."

4. No new faces. "Except for Jagr, they have mainly the same guys from the Cup year. The band is still together. It’s the same coach, same voice. (Claude's a real good coach; he's not the problem.) But are the players sick of hearing the same thing? I believe that bringing in 'fresh faces' goes a long way with a coach. That player might be hearing new philosophies/ideas. Bringing in a new guy or two every year is not a bad thing."

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said Wednesday that he had positive feelings about the team's progress going into Tuesday's game with the Flyers, but "after the first period, it was a different story."

"I saw lackadaisical play, and certainly it's not the type of energy or attitude you want going into the playoffs," he said of Boston's 5-2 loss to Philadelphia.

Speaking on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Chiarelli didn't blame coach Claude Julien for the Bruins' current problems, but said the entire team should take responsibility. He also pointed out that players competing for ice time haven't stepped up like they need to.

The Bruins have just three regular-season games left, and Chiarelli sounded concerned about whether his team can fix its problems before the playoffs begin.

“Teams don’t flip the switch, let’s be clear on that, it just doesn't happen." he said. “So, we've got to put last night aside, we've got to build on what we had been building on in the previous three games. I know the results weren’t there in the previous three games, but we had good, strong periods, successive periods. That made me feel better. So we've got to get back to that. There'll be no flipping switches here."

He touched on the Bruins' strategy moving forward.

"We'd like to win the division," he said. "We've tried to rest some guys. ... You win the division, you're in a better spot going forward in the playoffs. ... You want to get the team in a winning spirit and I thought we were going in that direction. I really liked the successive string of periods we played in the last few games before last night, but we took a step back last night.”