Losing creates desperation, but a team needs more than desperation to turn things around. The Bruins swung the right balance between desperation and determination Saturday as they turned in a much stronger effort and broke their four-game losing streak with a 3-2 shootout win over the Flyers. 

Yes, they blew a two-goal lead when the Flyers came back with goals from Matt Read and Jakub Voracek, and yes, it took them five minutes of overtime and a shootout to settle what could have been settled in regulation, but the Bruins weren’t going to lose that game. After mailing it in during back-to-back losses in Florida this week, the Bruins were focused, careful, physical and most importantly, nothing like the guys who had been wearing their jerseys for the last however many games. 

“It was a nice win for us,” a relieved Zdeno Chara said after the win. “It went all the way to the shootout. It was a really close game, even though I thought we had a lot of jump, a lot of energy, and everybody was playing more like we can. It was just a hard-fought game and I’m just happy that we earned those two points.”

It was evident from the first period Saturday that these weren’t your week-old son’s Bruins. After spotting their opponents 2-0 leads in each of their previous four games, the Bruins came out Saturday with first-period goals from Chris Kelly and Tyler Seguin.

The big start for the Bruins was highly uncharacteristic of their recent first-period play. They had been outscored, 10-1, in the first 20 minutes over their previous four games, and the contests were often lost by the time the first period was over. That wasn’t the case Saturday, as the B’s left the ice after the first period to a standing ovation from the Garden crowd. 

“It’s something that in the last few games we didn’t get,” Chara said of the strong first-period showing. “It was a much better feeling to be playing with a lead, even in the tighter game, but those things are going to happen and we still had a lot of chances.” 

Even after Read redirected a Danny Briere shot on the power play past Tim Thomas in the second period, the B’s didn’t let up. They came up big in killing off a questionable goaltender interference call against Shawn Thornton with less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation, and even got a big defensive play from Seguin. With the Flyers on a 2-on-2, Seguin dove to break up a drop-pass intended for Jaromir Jagr. It was clear that the Bruins wanted the win badly, and it showed when they didn’t relent after Voracek tied it. 

“Nobody said anything [after Voracek’s goal],” Dennis Seidenberg said. “We just stayed with it. It would have been easy for us to let our heads hang and just kind of stop playing. But I think our mindset was good today, we wanted to win this game. And you saw after they tied it up we just kept going and kept getting chances.”

Said Chara: “We didn’t blow the lead. We fought hard and they got two deflections. Those are always tough to prevent but, that’s hockey. The most important thing was that we didn’t change our mindset. We had a great attitude today and [it was] great team win.”

Given how bad things had been, a 2-1 loss could have been considered a “great team win,” but the captain’s summary of the game was accurate. If the Bruins play as relentlessly as they did Saturday and are as resilient every game as they were against the Flyers, more wins should be in their future. 

Saturday proved as a reminder of what the Bruins can be when everyone shows up and plays for nearly an entire game. With the Senators nipping at their heels in the standings and trying to push the B’s into seventh place, the Bruins will need more efforts like it. 

“I think we know that time’s running out here,” Claude Julien said. “With [11] games left, it’s important that we bring that kind of an effort, that kind of a game, night in, night out right now. … First of all, we want to be part of the playoff scene. Second of all, we want to be in the best position possible, and thirdly, you want to make sure you play your best hockey once the playoffs start. You have to build towards that, and we’ve got a lot of building to do.”