Prior to last Saturday's game against the New York Islanders, Bruins head coach Claude Julien suggested that the Islanders would be a tough challenge despite their 1-4-1 mark in the past six games.

"Our guys are aware that they are a pretty good team and they are young," he said. "When you give [the Islanders] some opportunities to showcase their skills, they will."

Boston's players apparently did not get the memo, falling in a 3-2 defeat to the Isles.

On their second power play of the day, the Bruins jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Left wing Milan Lucic flipped the puck into the back of the net at the 15:10 mark for his 22nd goal of the season.

Midway through the second period, disaster struck for Bruins fans. After a shot was fired at Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, the goalie fell over and winced in pain. After leaving the game, Boston fans can only hope for a speedy recovery for the young netminder.

With the game tied at one, Islanders left wing Matt Moulson scored on the squad's third power play to increase its lead to 2-1.

With eight minutes, 29 seconds played in the third period, center Tyler Seguin burst past the Islanders' defense, scoring on a back-hander as he slid past the net to tie the game.

However, New York would deal the Bruins its second loss in three games, on a slap-shot goal by Islanders star center John Tavares with 7:39 remaining in the game to seal the victory.

It took all of 73 seconds for the Bruins to open the scoring against the New Jersey Devils last Thursday night. Seguin carried the puck down the right, feeding center David Kreçí, who made no mistake in slotting past Devils goalie Martin Brodeur to send the Garden into raptures.

Despite a Devils goal, the home crowd had no reason to worry, as Boston soon doubled its advantage. The 20-year-old Seguin made no mistake, slotting home from five feet for the second of the night.

As Bruins goalie Tim Thomas laid sprawled on the ice from making an earlier save, Devils left wing Patrik Elias slotted home to even things up with 5:57 left in the period.

New Jersey center David Clarkson then pulled a wraparound move, beating Thomas before the Boston custodian even knew it. The Bruins had suddenly lost their two-goal lead.

It was not looking good for Boston, at least until Krejçí managed to bury a puck in front of the net to send the game into overtime.

Thankfully, the deciding goal came from someone dressed in black and yellow, as Krejçí completed his hat trick.

"He is one of our top players and when he's producing the way he did tonight, there's no doubt our team is much better," said Julien.

Last Tuesday, Thomas experienced similar problems, having little time to get settled in the net at TD Garden. From the outset of the game, the Senators offense exploited a vulnerable Bruins defense and pelted Thomas with shot after shot.

With 5:19 remaining, however, Senators defender Erik Karlsson found a hole in Thomas' armor, firing a laser over the outstretched glove of Thomas to hand the Senators a 1-0 lead on its second power play. The lone goal would prove to be enough in the Bruins' 1-0 defeat.

The second period proved to be much of the same story. The Senators fired 31 shots at the resilient Thomas by the end of the second period, but he still did not relent. The score was still 1-0.

In the third period, the Bruins attack found life. Finally able to penetrate Ottawa's defense, Boston reeled off 17 shots on Senators goalie Robin Lehner. Lehner never revealed an opening in the net, leading to the Bruins' 1-0 defeat.

After a 4-3 defeat to the New York Rangers last Sunday, Boston will try to snap its losing streak tonight at 7 p.m. against the Toronto Maple Leafs.