The Boston Bruins headed into the Christmas break winners of two in a row beating the Buffalo Sabres and Nashville Predators on home ice. Then, the team had three days off and things went south when they traveled to Columbus to face the Blue Jackets.

In a bit of a stunner, Niklas Svedberg got the nod between the pipes for the Black and Gold after the mini-break. It is kind of odd that Tuukka Rask, the reigning Vezina Trophy award winner, was on the bench. Claude Julien’s logic did not come into fruition as Svedberg let in three goals on 15 shots before getting yanked as the Blue Jackets routed the Bruins 6-2.

The B’s did not get off to the start they wanted coming out of the gates slow, but after allowing the game’s first goal, Patrice Bergeron answered with a goal of his own 20 seconds later.

From there on out starting in the second period, it was all Blue Jackets. The Black and Gold trailed 5-2 heading into the final frame and the hill was too big to climb.

“We took two steps forward and we just took one back,” Julien said after his team’s dismal performance.

“Now we’ve got to keep plugging away here. We’ve talked about how important it is for us to get some wins here. I often say that, ‘turn the page’, but it’s not about just turning the page and forgetting what happened here. We’ve got to get better.”

In other news, Milan Lucic got his revenge on Dalton Prout as the two engaged in a heavy weight bout. Prout knocked Lucic down on one hit the last time these two teams met while Lucic called the hit “gutless” so, the B’s left-winger was ready this time around. Unfortunately, it did not spark his team. Actually, the momentum went the other way in favor of the Blue Jackets.

There were too many defensive breakdowns in the game on Saturday night. Whether it was Svedberg or Rask in net, the men in front of them showed no urgency to get the puck or clear the puck out of the zone.

“I thought we showed those surges, but not enough of them,” Julien said. “I thought we made a lot of mistakes, defensive mistakes.”

If the Black and Gold want to get back in one of the top eight spots in the Eastern Conference, they need the effort they had against the Predators not the “effort” they put forth against the Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

It won’t get any easier for the B’s as the Red Wings and Maple Leafs come to town this upcoming week. Craig Cunningham, who netted his second career goal against the Blue Jackets knows it really is do-or-die time for his team.

“It’s two huge divisional games and right now we’re in a dog fight to get into the playoffs and every point is so important,” Cunningham said. “Those are four point games and you’ve got to come to play and you’ve got to earn your points in those games if you want to claw back in.”

The clawing will start Monday night as the Red Wings come to town. Hopefully it is with Patrice Bergeron in the lineup. Bergeron left Saturday night’s game and was missing for most of the third period, but that was most likely precautionary due to the score. He is listed as day-to-day.