It started in training camp and it’s carried over to the regular season. The goal scoring drought that’s plagued the Boston Bruins over the first three games isn’t just a hiccup to start the year, but a team weakness overall. It’s not pushing the panic button by any means, it’s a matter of Claude Julien needing to adjust his coaching style as well as his lines.

“It seems like when we get down a goal or two goals, we get deflated and that’s not the team that we are. We’re always a team that always has a lot of fight, a team that always fights it way back in any situation…hopefully after two games like that we can take this as a wake up call and move forward,” Milan Lucic expressed to the media after a 4-0 defeat at home to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.

Related: Check out what the players and coach had to say after Saturday’s 4-0 loss to Washington

It’s not a matter of hoping for a wake up call, it’s a sense of urgency that accompanies a terrible two-game swing like the Bruins endured.

With Gregory Campbell and David Krejci sidelined to start the season Claude Julien’s bottom-six forward combinations have been the following:

Milan Lucic | Ryan Spooner | Matt Fraser
Daniel Paille | Craig Cunningham | Bobby Robins

Over the first three games, the 3rd and 4th lines have produced 0-points and a -3 rating, combined.

Bobby Robins may be the “feel good” story of the season, but he also hasn’t been anywhere remotely close to a scoring opportunity and hasn’t registered a single shot-on-goal. It’s simple, really. Craig Cunningham (recently sent down to Providence on 10/12) isn’t quite ready for the pros. Wingers Robins and Fraser belong on level 9 as healthy scratches. With Krejci set to return as early as this afternoon against Colorado, Lucic’s effort and offensive presence should return as well.

With a salary cap crunch and the current roster makeup, the Bruins do not have enough goal scoring firepower to roll their customary four lines throughout the game. In the midst of a goal scoring drought, getting your top-9 forwards on the ice as much as possible is a great coaching tactic to use to shake players out of slumps. It’s time for Peter Chiarelli to sign Simon Gagne to a contract. For now, it’s time for Claude Julien to change his coaching style and dial back the minutes of his bottom-six forwards.

Lucic | Krejci | Spooner

Marchand | Bergeron | Smith

Eriksson | Soderberg | Kelly

Julien can still use Paille and Campbell(when healthy) on the penalty-kill units and can also spot both players when lines get out of sorts due to special teams.

After producing seven goals for and four goals against after the first three games of 2013-2014, the Bruins have scored just three times this season while allowing seven against in the process. This and many other factors show that the Bruins issue of scoring goals is a matter of not being able to roll four solid lines. With that being said, finding the right mix of forwards and potentially creating chemistry between multiple trios could be the start the Bruins need to end their goal scoring drought.