Instead of a new teammate, the Bruins welcomed a resilient and familiar nemesis back to TD Garden Thursday.

Shortly after officially dropping out of the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, the Bruins built and then lost a two-goal advantage before ultimately suffering a painful 3-2 shootout loss the Montreal Canadiens. (Recap.)

Seemingly in a prime position to end an extended losing streak and three weeks of frustration, the Bruins stumbled just long enough to allow the Canadiens a chance to throw another dagger into the B’s wounded and wobbling psyche.

Holding a 2-0 advantage late in the second period, the Bruins gave up two goals to Montreal in a 39-second span to tie the game. Boston then failed to covert on power-play chances in the third period and overtime, leaving the door open for Brian Gionta to score the only goal of the shootout and lift Montreal to victory.

The setback in the shootout pushed the Bruins’ losing streak to nine games, during which they have gone 0-6-3. They also have lost eight straight home games.

As was the case in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Washington when they tested Jose Theodore with 42 shots, the B’s once again generated an incredible number of scoring chances, sending 47 shots at Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak. But they could not score during the third period, overtime or shootout.

Nada, nothing, zip.

“Guys are trying to stay positive. We’re going to stay positive and we’re going to stay together through this,” said forward Mark Recchi, who scored the Bruins’ first goal of the contest. “We have outplayed these last two teams significantly and you have to take the positives from that.”

The Bruins will have one final home game before the Olympic break, hosting Vancouver Saturday. The Canucks ran smack into a 45-save effort by Halak in a 3-2 loss at Montreal Tuesday. They also dropped a 3-1 contest in Ottawa Thursday.

As we wait to see whether the Bruins can avoid a double-digit losing streak and add to Vancouver’s woes in the Northeast, here are three loose pucks to consider.

ILYA KOVALCHUK IS NOT COMING TO THE RESCUE

Word spread quickly throughout the Garden near the end of the first period that the Atlanta Thrashers had traded explosive forward Ilya Kovalchuk to the New Jersey Devils.

While there had been plenty of speculation that Kovalchuk might be heading to the Bruins, the reality was that the price for acquiring Kovalchuk for a short-term “rental” over the balance of the season may have simply been too steep. Sources had indicated that the Thrashers were insisting on acquiring the first-round pick that the Bruins obtained from Toronto in the Phil Kessel deal, and the Bruins were not willing to deal it.

The cost of signing Kovalchuk to a long-term deal also would have been beyond the reach of the Bruins. Atlanta general manager Don Waddell told reporters earlier Thursday that Kovalchuk had turned down a 12-year, $101 million contract to stay in Atlanta. Sources also indicated that Kovalchuk was demanding at least $9 million a year when working out possible long-term deals with other interested teams. 

Yet in order to secure Kovalchuk, the Devils dealt John Oduya, a dependable top-four defenseman for New Jersey on most nights, forward Nicklas Bergfors (13 goals, 14 assists), prospect Patrice Cormier and a first-round pick.

That’s hardly a potpourri of talent or impact players. 

“I don’t think there’s anything significant off their roster. I think that’s a pretty good trade for New Jersey, to be honest with you,” Recchi said. “[Kovalchuk]’s a great hockey player, but he’s not here so I can’t worry about it. He’s a heck of a a hockey player. I played with him in Atlanta.

“I don’t even know how much in the running we were,” Recchi continued. “I don’t concern myself with that too much. I have to focus on what we do here and the players we have in this dressing room. If you start thinking about other guys and other things, it’s going to go south and we don’t want it go to south here.” 

POINTS ARE HARD TO COME BY WITH A POOR POWER PLAY

Although the Bruins managed to generate 47 shots, they could have greatly improved their hopes for winning if they had created signficantly more pressure while on the power play.

Boston finished the night 1-for-6 with a man advantage but failed to score during a pair of third-period man advantages. Then, a 4-on-3 in overtime crushed hopes of ending the team’s losing streak.

The first power play in the opening minutes of the game was dreadful. The second proved a little better, but still not good. Finally, on the B's third attempt, Dennis Wideman and Derek Morris traded passes before Wideman drilled a shot that Recchi tipped in to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead.

Then, just over five minutes into the second period, David Krejci carried the puck through center and down the left wing before firing a shot at Halak from a tough angle. The rebound fell to Blake Wheeler, who was racing to the left post, and he tucked it into the net to give the Bruins a sudden and rare 2-0 advantage.

When that lead was gone in 39 seconds late in the second, the B’s still had three power-play chances to regain an advantage.

Five minutes into the third, they came up empty when Habs winger Travis Moen was whistled for hooking. Set up for a key power play with 3:42 to play, the Bruins failed to land a shot on goal. They finished regulation having generated just three shots on goal on the power play.

“There wasn’t much going, obviously,” center Marc Savard said. "They played us hard. They took a lot of stuff away. It seemed like we got the zone and then they just crowd us on the boards and ice it. It was tough.”

The same inability carried into overtime as the B’s had a 4-on-3 advantage for a full two minutes but failed to capitalize.

“We got some great shots from the point, [Derek Morris] hit a couple really good and we just didn’t get a tip on it,” Savard said. [Recchi] was trying. He had good screens. [Halak] made good saves. We battled for the loose pucks on that one. We had some chances but chances aren’t good enough. We’ve got to score.”

THE BRUINS FAILED ANOTHER SCREEN TEST

The Bruins were well positioned to end the losing streak, carrying a 2-0 lead with less than four minutes left in the second period when Matt Hunwick was whistled for a hooking penalty to set up the Canadiens’ first power play of the night. Glen Metropolit swiped in a rebound of a Scott Gomez shot to put Montreal on the scoreboard.

Just 39 seconds later, Roman Hamrlik beat Tuukka Rask (23 saves) with a wrist shot through a screen from the right circle to suddenly tie the game.

“I saw when he released it, but then I lost it,” Rask explained. “That’s all I’m going to say.”

The goal was quite similar to one Rask yielded to Henrik Tallinder in the first period of a 2-1 loss to Buffalo on Jan. 29.

Whether the fault of a forward for allowing the defenseman too close to the circle before shooting, the defenseman for not impeding or contributing to the screen, or Rask for failing to fight through the screen, the collective result was another back-breaking goal.