WILMINGTON, Mass. -- There's still some question about whether Zdeno Chara or Mark Recchi tipped Dennis Wideman's shot off the New Jersey crossbar with less than 45 seconds remaining in Thursday night's 2-1 loss to the Devils during a 6-on-5 situation.

However, all that matters is that Chara was in front of the net wreaking havoc and the Bruins came that close to tying the score in the final minute for the second straight game.

"I really got a lucky tip on it," said Chara, who seemed to think it was his stick that redirected the puck past Yann Danis. "Too bad it didn't bounce at least down to the ice, it bounced away from the net. At least then we would have a chance to get the rebound. That's the game. It's a game of inches and you can't get any closer than that."

Unfortunately for Chara, close just isn't good enough right now. He might be close to scoring his first goal and close to playing like the defending Norris Trophy winner on a nightly basis, but the Bruins need him scoring and playing like an upper-echelon blueliner as soon as possible.

"I think his whole game, at times, has been up and down a little bit," said head coach Claude Julien, who added that Chara's slightly reduced average ice time from past years is more a reflection of the Bruins' depth on the back end than the captain's inconsistent play. "Let's put it this way, he's never been terrible but there are some nights you say he's been OK. When you talk about Zee, for a team to have success, we would like to see him the way he was last year and be a stellar defenseman and stingy and a defenseman that every team hated playing against."

Chara, of course, says that he measures his play on whether the Bruins win or lose and how he did against the opposition's top line. While the wins are coming sporadically, the defense has been there on a regular basis.

As for the goal-drought, Chara hasn't scored in the first 11 games of this season and failed to light the lamp in the final 10 postseason games last season. On Monday, he was on the ice working on his shot before and after practice -- totaling about 2 ½ hours of ice time. However, he says that's not a sign of panic because he "just felt like taking some shots."

There's also some consolation in the fact that last season he scored a career-best 19 goals but didn't find the back of the net in the Bruins' first 12 contests.

"Cool. So hopefully it happens tomorrow," he said with a grin.

An offensive front

If the Bruins' near-miss in the closing seconds against New Jersey and their two-goal rally in Ottawa last Saturday proved anything, it's that they're capable of playing with the type of desperation needed to grind out some goals without Marc Savard and Milan Lucic. That was one point of emphasis for Julien and his staff during today's practice at Ristuccia Arena.

"It's more about quality (chances), as far as getting more traffic in front," said the coach. "Getting those shots through, but also more traffic in front and at the same time, you've got to be able to jump on those loose pucks and win those battles. We talked about getting position in front of the net and what you've got to do to keep it and not be pushes out."

In 11 games, the Bruins have outshot their opponent five times, so they're at least holding their own in that department.

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