Boston Bruins: Rangers Loss Proves Defending Champs Lack Effort and Energy

The Boston Bruins were outworked, out hustled and just dominated in nearly every facet of the game Tuesday night in a disappointing 3-0 loss to the Eastern Conference leading New York Rangers at TD Garden.

The Bruins, who pride themselves on a style of physical, tough and spirited play, have been severely lacking the energy and effort needed to beat quality teams during their recent slump.

However, one of the larger issues is that the team and head coach Claude Julien might not be on the same page.

"You can shoot 42 shots on net, and it may look good on paper versus 20, but the mistakes, the identity, the battles," said Julien in his postgame press conference. "I think they won more battles than we did tonight, especially in their own end, so certainly not good enough for the Boston Bruins."

Captain and star defenseman Zdeno Chara, however, did not think his team was outworked against the Rangers.

"I don’t think we were outworked. I thought we were battling really hard," said Chara. "You know, on the second goal it was double deflection off his stick, my pants, and go in. So, that’s a bounce that you can’t prevent; it’s just an unlucky bounce. I thought that we had some really good chances."

Chara is wrong here, and it's a little alarming that he won't admit the Bruins did not give the effort and physicality they needed to beat a team as good as New York. The Bruins did not battle hard enough, and that's something Julien has to address to his players. They need a full 60 minute effort each night, especially late in the season when they play many teams who are fighting for playoff positioning or are just fighting to get into the postseason.

Chara, as captain and the leader on defense, needs to set the tone each game, but he failed in doing that against the Rangers. A few turnovers and a dumb penalty that led to the Rangers' first goal was part of a disastrous first period for Chara, who on the night as a whole played poorly.

The Bruins have to play better in the first period because they cannot rely on their goaltenders to continually perform brilliantly when the offense is playing catch up. The Bruins have a great scoring differential in the third period this season, but they cannot depend on that going forward.

"In the first period we didn’t come out with enough energy, we lost puck battles, we lost puck races, and they just used their opportunities to convert on those odd man situations and those chances they got," said Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, and he's absolutely right.

The Bruins, in their building, against an elite team in the East, were dominated. Julien needs to use this road trip to make sure the team finds its identity again and plays Bruins hockey. If it doesn't get better soon, the team may need to make a move, either a small or large one, before the trading deadline on February 27.

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All quotes obtained first hand.

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Nicholas Goss is a Boston Bruins Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and was the organization's on-site reporter for the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals in Boston.