When a team heads to the locker room trailing 3-0 with just nine shots on goal after two periods, it's hard to think that the eventual loss they'd be handed would be of the heartbreaking variety. 

That's just the way it played out on Friday in the nation's capital, as the Bruins rode a goaltending switch and quick comeback to pull even with the Capitals less than 10 minutes into the third period. 

Goals from Michael Ryder, Nathan Horton, and Shawn Thornton made such a scenario come to fruition, with the team seemingly waking up after stagnant play for two periods in front of Tim Thomas. The comeback proved to be for naught, as John Carlson beat Tuukka Rask from the point and Alexander Ovechkin scored an empty netter to give the Capitals a 5-3 victory, their first win against the Bruins this season in three tries. The loss marked the first time the Bruins have been defeated on the road this season. 

Here are the storylines that emerged from a tough loss in the nation's capital:

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

It's been pretty much the same story, or at least a variation of it, in each of the B's three losses this season. The goalie plays well, the team comes out flat but eventually finds another gear, and the Bruins lose a game wondering how things would have been had the life they showed later in the game been present earlier on. 

Friday night, the B's took it to an extreme. The first two periods rivaled those of the season-opener vs. the Coyotes, another game in which the team was outscored, 3-0, in the second period. While the game seemed out of reach throughout the third period of what turned out to be a 5-2 loss in Prague, the blatant flick of a switch on Friday made the comeback more and more feasible with each passing key play. 

The team's other loss, a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Rangers at TD Garden on Oct. 23, also saw the Bruins come out of the gate slow and fall behind by multiple goals. The Bruins have now lost three games on the season and have fallen behind by at least a 2-0 margin to open the game in all three of them. 

The two most obvious differences between the first two losses and Friday night was that Tuukka Rask started the first two, and the Bruins were able to pull even after falling behind on Friday. 

There are, of course, two ways of looking at the trend when trying to assess this season's edition of the Bruins. While one could argue that its a sign that the team could be prone to slow starts, what may be more telling, especially following Friday's game, is that the 2009-10 Bruins squad is one that won't play dead when behind. 

As previously noted, the Bruins have fallen behind, 2-0, or worse in all three losses. After allowing the second goal, they've combined to score six and allow six (excluding empty netters), a sign that the early goals have been a killer, but also an indication that they haven't mailed it in following rough starts. 

THORNTON, FOURTH-LINERS THE ROUTE OF THE COMEBACK 

Highlights are fun, but all comebacks start somehow. There's no Dave Roberts stolen base if there isn't a Kevin Millar leadoff walk against Mariano Rivera. Usual suspects chipped in the first two Bruins goals in the third in Michael Ryder and Nathan Horton, but both were power play tallies thanks to penalties drawn by fourth-liners.

First, Brad Marchand, a victim of an iffy tripping call in the first period himself, drew a hooking minor from Jason Chimera. Ryder then picked up his fourth goal to get the Bruins on the board and suddenly playing a two-goal game. 

Twenty seconds later, Marchand's linemate in Shawn Thornton drew another key penalty when John Erskine headed to the bin for interference. Horton's sixth goal of the season, which came on the ensuing power play, brought the  B's within one, and it only seemed fitting that the fourth-line-fueled comeback be capped by a goal from Thornton.

Claude Julien loves that he can comfortably play his fourth line against other team's top lines. He was also likely digging the team's 10-minute, three-goal comeback to tie the game and chase Michal Neuvirth on Friday. He has Thornton and Co. to thank for that. 

ANOTHER REASON TO NOT GET CARRIED AWAY WITH GOALTENDERS

A goals against average that starts with a number higher than zero? Has Tim Thomas come back to earth? Is it Tuukka Time?

Not any more than it was entering the game. 

Thomas' performance was reminiscent of Rask's in the season-opener. He allowed the goals that had the team in a hole after a pair of periods, but he was pretty close to blameless on the night. If Friday said anything about the B's goaltending situation, it's that through 10 games, neither Thomas nor Rask has had a particularly poor performance on the season, but it is Rask who finds himself with an 0-3-0 record with less than two and a half hour's worth of minutes under his belt. 

And, much like Rask's performance in the opener, Friday night's showing from Thomas allows the team to get their other netminder a start the following the night. It would have probably taken a fourth shutout from Thomas on Friday to prevent Rask from getting a start in the team's stretch of three games in four days. 

The "I don't have a No. 2 goalie" logic is one that some may scoff at, but Claude Julien is almost undeniably accurate in saying it. The B's were able to replace a No. 1 with a No. 1 on Friday and nearly get a point or two out of it. You can't argue with that logic.