For a long time, the knock on former tennis superstar Andre Agassi was that he played to the level of his competition. Down or up, it was always a battle down to the final serve. Agassi truly became a transcendent player when he learned to play his own game regardless of the opponent.

The Bruins have exhibited the shortcomings of the young Agassi for much of this season. Outside of the Monday shellacking at the hands of the Ottawa Senators, Boston has been able to play some good games with uneven results. That was the case on Thursday evening in a 3-2 loss to the perennial also-ran Blue Jackets. (Recap.)

The Bruins had their share of chances to score and put the contest away, but in the end, they gave up a third-period lead en route to a pointless night, as Columbus not only tied the game but won it in regulation when R.J. Umberger tipped a slap shot through the crease with 1:16 to play.

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing right now, it’s all about what’s in this locker room and it’s all about what we do,” Bruin Blake Wheeler said. “It seems to be that it’s going to be a tough battle no matter who we’re playing or how well they’re playing. It doesn’t matter. We have to embrace the challenge every night.”

The Bruins were able to go out to California last week and beat arguably the best team in the NHL in the San Jose Sharks. They lost a close game to the Anaheim Ducks, then could not finish off the Kings in Los Angeles. Unlike last year, when the Bruins typically found a way to win these close games, they are now failing to secure their points.

“I think you can’t say when [the Bruins will break the slump] if your team does not come out the next game and have a good effort,” Bruins coach Claude Julien said. “It is not so much a matter of when, but rather saying, ‘Let’s keep working hard and, you know, you hope that you get guys back eventually and things will start falling into place.’ ”

Here are three lessons from a night when defeat arrived suddenly:

THIS DEFEAT WAS CAUSED BY MORE THAN JUST A PHANTOM HIGH STICK

In the end, this defeat was the byproduct of what has become a common theme for the Bruins this year, chiefly the failure of the team in the goal-scoring department. The overall numbers are abysmal.

Dennis Wideman has three goals all year, Milan Lucic has two, Zdeno Chara has four and David Krejci has eight. Not a single one of these players is anywhere near the goal production he had last year, whether the result of injury or ineffectiveness. The lack of production and playmaking is crippling the Bruins attack, as it did on Thursday.

That said, a high-stick, double-minor called against Lucic did not help matters.

The call came with less than two minutes remaining. It appeared that Columbus defenseman Anton Stralman hit teammate Derick Brassard in the face with his stick. But Lucic was whistled, and moments later, the Blue Jackets delivered the game-winner on the power play.

“Yeah, I was right there and I saw it. It was their own guy’s stick, I am pretty sure. That’s too bad. The referees get it right probably 95 percent of the time,” Blake Wheeler said. “It’s a bang-bang play. You don’t blame the officials for losing a game.”

Even though it was an unfortunate call, the Bruins had reason to feel relatively confident in their ability to kill the penalty, given that they have the best penalty-killing team in the entire league.

In this instance, the Blue Jackets deserved credit. Coach Ken Hitchcock called a timeout right after Lucic went to the box and set up the play that enabled Umberger to get into position to crash the net on Stralman’s slap shot from the point. It was not a pretty goal, but it employed a successful formula — a little luck, a little positioning and a lot of effort mixed with talent.

For the Bruins right now, a lot of the talent is sitting on the bench. Most of the luck as well. Positioning and effort can only take a team so far, but the Bruins were not hanging their heads after this loss because there were positives upon which to build.

“I think we hung in there and had some chances but the ending was not meant to be,” Julien said. “The things that we get out of this is that you have to go back the next time and work even harder. It is not that complicated. To hang our heads would make it worse, right? To feel sorry or to go out there and not work as hard is going to make it worse. We know that, we are professionals.”

A DEFEAT, BUT NOT AN EMBARRASSMENT

Whereas Monday’s loss was disappointing because of a lackluster effort, Thursday’s was a bit more routine. Though no defeat is ever welcome, Thursday’s did not sting quite as much as Monday’s embarrassment.

“You want to play for 60 minutes and I thought we showed a good effort all night,” Bruin Patrice Bergeron said. “We had a lot of chances. We have to bury on the chances we have. It wasn’t a matter of effort today, though.”

Instead, it was a matter of not being able to capitalize. The Bruins outplayed Columbus for long stretches, especially at the beginning of the game and the start and middle of the second period. Boston outshot the Blue Jackets, 34-25, with a 22-15 shot advantage after the relatively even first period. Yet Boston could not push the puck into the back of the net.

“[Krejci] had an opportunity with an open net ... a little bit unlucky, not hitting the net on that opportunity,” Lucic said. “We had an opportunity there to make it 3-1 and right before [a late-game penalty with the game tied], I took it to the net and wasn’t able to finish there to give us a 3-2 lead. … [We] just missed opportunities tonight and I think that’s what we need to start doing more, is bearing down on our chances.”

Whereas the Bruins entered Thursday tied with Carolina for last in the league in goals scored (177), every missed opportunity takes on greater significance given the team’s overall scoring shortcomings.

RYDER’S LINE HAS A CHANCE TO BE DYNAMIC

Michael Ryder spoke on Tuesday about how he needs to start playing better, how the Bruins need him to become the scorer he is supposed to be. He took his own words to heart on Thursday, as the wingman came out and played an aggressive game.

He scored the first goal of the night by driving to the net after center Trent Whitfield separated Jackets defenseman Mathieu Roy from the puck to create a 2-on-1 chance. Whitfield zipped a pass across the front to the open Ryder, who deposited the puck above Steve Mason’s shoulder.

“I am one of the guys they look at to score. We are having a rough time scoring, and you take that on yourself sometimes. With guys injured, I think I have to play better and tonight with [Whitfield) and [Miroslav Satan], [we] worked hard [and] we did a lot of good things,” Ryder said. “For me personally, I just got to make sure that I keep working hard and compete every night and the goals will come.”

Though Ryder has not had a spectacular year, he has been a touch more productive of late with two goals and an assist in his last five games. He was tied for second on the team with Bergeron against the Jackets with four shots (Chara led with five), a marked improvement considering that he had been held without a shot in two of the Bruins’ last five games.

Of the myriad chances that the Bruins produced on the evening, it seemed that the Ryder/Whitfield/Satan line was the group that worked the hardest and created the most. Whitfield provided some grit and hustle while Satan delivered a good all-around game. Ryder fit in as the resident sniper.

“I think a lot of it was that the individuals on that line just worked so hard,” Julien said. “They made things happen. Michael was probably the best that we have seen him in a long time and Whitfield made that first goal happen with second effort and Satan was pretty involved, I think even along the boards and everywhere else. So, I think that line was a pleasant surprise for us tonight.”