Mounting problems continue

ST. LOUIS -- To the players, coach Dave Lewis, and general manager Peter Chiarelli, one of the disturbing characteristics of the 2006-07 Bruins isn't that they allow goals.

It's how quickly those goals come.

In the season opener against the Florida Panthers, after a Glen Murray goal closed Boston's deficit to 3-2, the Bruins let in five straight strikes as the game quickly became a laugher.

They regrouped against the Tampa Bay Lightning to score a 3-2 road win, but in Wednesday's 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, the same bugaboo plagued the Bruins. After P.J. Axelsson scored a power-play goal to even the game at 1-1 in the second period, Atlanta's offense ignited for three straight goals, as sniper Marian Hossa capped the attack with an eye-opening score in the third period. It happened again last night, as St. Louis scored two unanswered goals in the third period en route to the 3-2 shootout win.

``You have to stop the bleeding," Lewis said. ``We didn't stop the bleeding fast enough. You have to have a belief that you can come from behind. We haven't established that, either. Anything can happen, especially halfway through the second period. I don't know that there were 30 minutes left to play, but there were at least 26 to go. You can generate some opportunities for yourself if you do the right thing."

It's a familiar frailty, one that plagued the woe-is-me Bruins last year. One goal turned into two. Two became three. And then, the game was over.

``It seems like we're holding up well for part of the game," said captain Zdeno Chara, who was held scoreless for the first time last night. ``Then all of a sudden they get two or three goals and it's all over. We have to make sure that we don't back down at the end of the game or in the middle of the game."

Lewis and the players said after yesterday's morning skate it is a matter of becoming familiar with each other and sticking to the systems. Lewis said the club needed to do the little things -- driving to the net, offering support to a teammate -- that add up to wins.

So far, the Bruins have shown only flashes of such behavior. They haven't been able to close the defensive gates once their attackers have battered them down. At the other end, once they've fallen behind by multiple goals, the Bruins haven't generated enough offense to sustain rallies.

``It's not a big deal now," said Patrice Bergeron. ``In the new NHL, you can get two goals in a heartbeat. That's the mind-set we have to have. We can't get disappointed when we get scored against. We have to come back stronger."

Last night, the Bruins got the best proof from the Blues, who overcame a two-goal deficit before they could even blink.

``They witnessed it and saw it," Lewis said. ``They all know it. The 55 minutes were tremendous. It was just disappointing at the end."

After the morning skate at the Scottrade Center, the Bruins paused to peruse two photocopies taped to the bulletin board in the dressing room.

The first sheet had two pictures of Winston Churchill, complete with top hat, cigar, and machine gun. Below the pictures was a handwritten message declaring, ``Never Surrender."

The second was a printout from yesterday's St. Louis Post-Dispatch in which Blues owner Dave Checketts, who guaranteed a home-opening win over the Bruins even before the season started, reiterated his declaration. Checketts's words were highlighted, including the following, underlined in red ink: ``We're going to beat Boston for our first win."

``It's posted on the board, but I'm certainly hoping that our players approach the game regardless of what's posted on the bulletin board with a winning attitude," Lewis said. ``If it helps one person, then it helps one person. If it helps nobody, then it helps nobody. Our approach is that regardless of the external pressure outside the locker room, that's not the important thing. The important thing is what we do and how we respond inside the locker room. Those are the only people you can count on."

Milan Jurcina, who missed the first three games with a laceration on his left elbow, played last night, taking the place of Nathan Dempsey, who recorded a team-worst minus-2 rating in the loss to Atlanta. Wade Brookbank, who saw his first action Wednesday, was back in the press box last night, as Yan Stastny returned to the lineup . . . Phil Kessel left the ice with five minutes left in the first period after being thumped by defenseman Eric Brewer as he crossed the St. Louis blue line. Kessel, who was replaced by Mark Mowers, returned in the second period. Kessel also got an errant stick in the face. ``He got introduced to the NHL," Lewis said . . . Jeff Hoggan got into the club's first throwdown of the year when he got together with forward Bill Guerin in the first period. The ex-Bruin had the best of Hoggan at the start, but the fourth-liner rallied late in the bout. Guerin received an extra two minutes for roughing . . . Before the game, Chiarelli did not know whether piloting an aircraft was part of the frowned-upon activities, such as water skiing and motorcycle riding, that are written into the standard NHL player's contract. Chiarelli could only think of Montreal forward Alexei Kovalev as a current player who knows how to fly. ``Just awful," Chiarelli said of Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle's death in a plane crash Wednesday.