By Joe Ballway, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent

The hockey gods haven’t been kind to the Bruins over the past week, piling a couple of costly injuries on top of the team’s early-season struggles. First liners Marc Savard (broken foot) and Milan Lucic (broken finger) are both expected to miss 4-6 weeks with injuries–a huge blow to an offense seeking balance and consistency. Throw in Phil Kessel’s departure, and the Bruins are missing their entire top line from last season for at least a month–surely not the scenario Bruins fans envisioned heading into the season.

It’s hard to tell what impact these losses will have. After a wave of confidence despite their missing offense on Wednesday when the Bruins turned out a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators, the Bruins suffered a tough break tonight, when they lost in a shootout to the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3. Derek Morris scored off a power play in the first and Matt Hunwick had two goals in the 2nd period. The Flyers however came back after being down 2-1, and after a scoreless overtime, managed to get the only goal in shootouts. However Tuukka Rask did have a superb game, with 36 saves, including one on a breakaway that would have won the game for the Flyers just minutes before overtime. With the loss, the B’s fall below 500 to 4-5-0.

This could be discouraging after such a hopeful performance on Wednesday night, which featured a lineup that was barely recognizable. Patrice Bergeron, Michael Ryder and Steve Begin all scored for the Bruins, who have alternated wins and losses en route to a 4-4 record on the season. Tim Thomas was strong in net, finishing with 28 saves–including a number of key stops in the final minutes with the Predators pressuring to even the score. Perhaps most importantly, Boston put together a complete, 60-minute effort despite a series of recent changes and obstacles.

However, health issues haven’t been the only cause for lineup changes. Following an underwhelming 4-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday, third-line winger Chuck Kobasew was dealt to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2011 draft and a pair of minor leaguers. The trade cleared up approximately $2.3 million in cap space–which the Bruins used to their advantage, acquiring left wing Daniel Paille from the Buffalo Sabres just two days later. In return, Buffalo received third- and fourth-round picks in the 2010 draft.

While some fans will criticize the front office for Kobasew’s departure, the trade really shouldn’t be overanalyzed. Kobasew–at best–was a 40-point scorer that provided some scrap on the third line. On the downside, he was injury-prone and streaky, thus far ineffective with just one assist through seven games. Paille shouldn’t be expected to pick up the offensive slack, but he was a cheap acquisition with a strong record on the penalty kill–something the Bruins could certainly use in the midst of their early-season struggles.

While none of the new guys got on the board tonight, Paille, along with a trio of minor-league call-ups, performed admirably in Wednesday night’s victory. One of those call-ups, rookie Brad Marchand, notched his first career assist in 14:42 of ice time, flashing some of the potential he’s displayed as the leading scorer down in Providence.

The Bruins will need to receive such contributions from these fill-ins over the next few weeks, because their season isn’t going to get easier without their leading scorer and most valuable physical asset up front. After Wednesday it appeared that these changes served as a wake-up call for the rest of the team–something the Bruins have desperately needed in this early stage of the season. After tonight, B’s fans might again be in doubt about the teams ability to regroup from injuries. Lets hope they are proved wrong with a victory Saturday at Ottawa.

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