The good news about this leap year is that Bruins don’t have to play on Feb. 29. 

So when the Bruins take the ice for Wednesday’s practice at Ristuccia Arena, gone should be the white, gold, gray, merlot and black jerseys. Replacing their threads for the day should be blue and yellow Leap Day William jerseys [let’s hope you watch "30 Rock"] as they celebrate the beautiful fact that they don’t have to play. That’s how bad February has been for the Bruins this season. 

February hasn’t just been bad, it’s been brutal. But now it’s done, something all the Bruins should be grateful for. They can finally turn the page to a new month, and one that hopefully won’t be as woeful. For now, here’s a close look at just how bad February has been for the Bruins. This will be like a flashback episode on a sitcom, but one in which the flashbacks are to your least-favorite episodes. Enjoy.

In a regular season that was going to be among the very best in team history, the B’s put together a month that was not only a far cry from their play in November and December, but one on par with their mediocre 3-7-0 season-opening month of October. 

The Bruins went 5-7-1, their worst month since that October. Their 1.76 goals per game was even worse than their October mark of 1.8, and unfortunately for the B’s, it happened over three more games than they played in their sluggish start to the season. 

The ugliest stat, of course, is that they were shut out a whopping five times, which more than doubled their season total entering the month. The B’s were shut out just twice over the first four months of the season, as their deep offense helped them establish themselves as the league’s top-scoring team.

Since February began, the B’s have slipped to second in the league in goals per game, and the shutouts have had a lot to do with it. Courtesy of some terrific research from Michael Berger (WEEI’s answer to The Schwab), the Bruins had never been shut out more than four times in a single month prior to this month, making February 2012 a month Bruins fans will remember but wish they could forget. 

Thanks to February, the Bruins also are approaching the team high in shutouts against. The worst seasons shutout-wise for the Bruins have been 1928-29 and 1955-56, when they were shut out 11 times. Seven shutouts is the most the B’s have had against since 2007, and if they are to be shut out three more times, they’ll have hit double digits for the first time since the lockout and second time since that 1955-56 campaign. 

To give the competition credit, the Bruins were shut out by some of the best of game in February, as the likes of Henrik Lundqvist, Ryan Miller and Cam Ward blanked the B’s in February. The other two to do it? Niklas Backstrom, who had lost his five starts prior to the Wild’s meeting with the Bruins, and Robin Lehner, who picked up his first career shutout Tuesday night in Boston.  

The B’s had four power-play goals over 13 games. For the sake of comparison, in February, another shaky month for the B’s, they had four power-play goals over a three-game stretch.

Then there’s the goals the Bruins have allowed. Bruins goaltenders gave up 34 goals for the second straight month. Tuukka Rask didn’t win a single game (0-3-1, and he’s 0-4-2 over his last six starts), while Tim Thomas allowed three goals in five of his eight appearances.

February also marked the first month since October in which the B’s did not win back-to-back games. Considering that they won 10 games in a row this season, they’re obviously capable of better. 

Patrice Bergeron said after Tuesday’s loss that there have been things about some of the Bruins' recent games that have encouraged him. They scored five goals Saturday night against the Senators (apparently they got all their scoring out of their system), and their defense has improved. Yet while things might be coming together, it seems that they lose their footing whenever progress is made. 

When the Bruins return to action Thursday against the Devils, it won’t be February anymore, mercifully. Perhaps March can be the answer to February, just like November was the answer to October. Given that the Bruins’ struggles have really been going on for a while (they went a good-but-not-great 8-4-1 in January), the B’s could really use a good month. The one they just had was a disaster.