Boston Bruins: Struggling Champs Failing to Capitalize on Scoring Chances

The Boston Bruins lost their fifth game of the season Saturday night against the San Jose Sharks, and if they had just capitalized on one or two of their many scoring chances, the game could have gone in their favor.

Sharks goalie Antti Niemi played well, but the Bruins had lots of opportunities to tie the game in the first or second periods and were unable to finish.

"He [Niemi] did play good, but I think if we just bear down like I said before, that we probably would have came out with the win. I think there was times where we had some empty nets or great opportunities, but we just need to not put the puck in the air or hit the posts or the crossbars," said Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk.

The Bruins were quickly down 1-0 just over a minute in the game when Sharks forward Joe Pavelski shot a wrister past Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, then fell behind 2-0 in the second period.

Third period goals by Milan Lucic and Tyler Seguin tied the game, but former Boston College player Benn Ferriero put the Sharks up 3-2 shortly after Seguin's game-tying goal.

If there was a positive for the Bruins last night, it was that they created a good amount of scoring chances, and they played a pretty good game over the 60 minutes.

"I think tonight we did a good job creating opportunities, but it just seems like that killer instinct needs to be taken up another notch for things to really get going and create the consistency here in the team," said Bruins forward Milan Lucic.

"But I think even though we lost four-two, I think we did a lot of good things and we have a lot to look forward, and there’s a lot to be happy about what we did tonight," Lucic added.

The Bruins are creating chances, but their inability to finish those opportunities has cost them multiple times in this young NHL season.

There have been several games, including a shutout loss to the Colorado Avalanche and two one-goal losses, one to the Carolina Hurricanes and one to the Philadelphia Flyers in which the Bruins could easily have scored 3-5 goals in each of those games, but did not because they were unable to bury their chances.

This inability to capitalize and score goals has been the main reason for the defending champs' inconsistency this season, and the Bruins have yet to win back-to-back games.

Despite losing at home for the fourth time in six games this season and failing to capitalize on their scoring chances, Bruins head coach Claude Julien isn't too concerned.

"I’d be more concerned if we lost because we just weren’t in the game and we were getting outworked and outplayed and everything else," said Julien. "That’s what concerns you. If we play the way we did tonight, if we can beat this team tonight is supposed to be one of the elite teams of the other conference, and if you take away the goals, I think we might have been a better team tonight as far as how many chances we had versus theirs."

The Bruins have a few days off before they play their arch rivals the Montreal Canadiens for the first time this season on Thursday, at the TD Garden.

The Canadiens have been struggling this season with many injuries to key players, and if the Bruins want to turn their early season around and head in the right direction, Thursday's game is the perfect time and place to do it.

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.