By: Joe Ballway, YawkeyTalkies Correspondent

Down 3-1 to the Senators with under two minutes to play, the Bruins’ fifth loss of the season was inevitable. In fact–loyal fan that I am–I turned off the TV and chucked the remote, feeling I had better things to do on a Saturday night than watch the clock run out on yet another setback in a season marred with perplexing inconsistency. I whined to my sister via text that the Bruins, now a sub-.500 team, were nearly halfway to their loss total from all of last season. After all, they hadn’t shown much fight through their first nine games, so what was there to indicate the possibility of a last-minute comeback?

Of course, being a mercurial, pessimistic Boston sports fan, I disregarded the Bruins’ uncanny ability to claw back into games–a quality that carried this team through so many brilliant stretches last season, but seemed to be absent thus far in the 2009-10 campaign. Some of that magic must still be lingering, though, as I received a text barely a minute later: Mark Recchi goal, 3-2 Ottawa with a minute left. Feeling slightly ashamed, I tuned back in to see if there was a faint glimmer of hope for the Bruins to even the score in the final 60 seconds. Surely enough, I had just resumed my seat on the futon when a wide-open David Krejci buried a one-timer from the slot off a cross-ice feed from Derek Morris.

3-all and headed into overtime, it couldn’t have been more apparent that the Bruins were going to win this game–which they did, as dramatically as they tied it. After two scoreless rounds in the shooutout, Patrice Bergeron just barely slid the puck under Ottawa netminder Brian Elliot on Boston’s third attempt. Tim Thomas proceeded to stonewall Jason Spezza on Ottawa’s final chance, sealing the improbable victory.

The comeback was impressive on multiple levels. With Marc Savard and Milan Lucic sidelined for the next month, the Bruins were forced to play shorthanded, putting the onus on the rest of the offense to provide the depth that it boasted so effectively last season. Krejci and Recchi are prime examples of players that needed to step up; obviously, both did their part with key goals in the closing minutes of regulation. Those kinds of contributions will need to continue in order for the Bruins to survive without their leading scorer and most dominant physical force up front.

The Bruins also demonstrated a sense of urgency that they’ve sorely lacked, particularly when playing from behind. The pressure they applied at the end of the third period hasn’t been a constant feature in their 60-minute game, only surfacing in spurts. They must maintain that aggressive approach, because they’ve often been far too conservative, staying back on their heels when they should be getting the puck to the net with more desperation.

Finally, the true backbone of the team lies in between the pipes, where Thomas has sought to regain his Vezina-worthy level of performance. He looked sharper and more comfortable on Saturday night, keeping the Bruins in the game at crucial junctures in the early going. While his stats weren’t eye-popping–he yielded 3 goals on 30 shots–some of his saves were truly spectacular, and his insistence in never quitting on the play triggered memories of last season’s bold, aggressive approach. His diving save on Daniel Alfredsson may have been one of the best saves of his career.

In summation, it sees that the Bruins are slowly rounding into form after their sluggish start. Despite injury problems and personnel changes–Kobasew’s departure to the Wild in particular–Claude Julien appears to have pushed the right buttons in the past few games, with the Bruins posting a 2-0-1 record since dropping a 4-1 clunker to the Coyotes. There is still plenty of work to be done, as the Bruins have yet to string together two satisfactorily complete efforts–let alone two consecutive wins. And the comeback was certainly heartening, but, taking into account Boston’s recent dominance over Ottawa and the fact that the Sens rolled out their backup goaltender, the Bruins probably should have fared easier than they did. Two-goal comebacks in the closing minutes won’t happen every night, especially if they’re trailing to more established teams like Pittsburgh and New Jersey.

The Bruins ultimately need to work on bursting out of the gate with offensive pressure and getting on the board early. The forwards still aren’t exactly where they need to be in terms of production and chemistry, and their mettle will continue to be tested in the absence of Lucic and Savard. The defense must improve at clamping down and protecting Thomas, re-establishing Julien’s system of creating scoring chances and odd-man rushes out of turnovers from the neutral and defensive zones. If the Bruins can follow the system and hang in there until their key offensive cogs get back in the lineup, they should be in good shape the rest of the way.

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