There’s no escaping this latest dose of reality after their 2-1 shootout loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon.

The 2014-15 Boston Bruins have hit rock bottom.

Getting to this point was bad enough. The Bruins, still on the outside looking in for the final spot in the wild card race, faced a Hurricanes squad that was dead last in the Eastern Conference. At this point, the Canes are tanking to improve their draft status and select either Connor McDavid or Boston University’s own Jack Eichel with one of the top two picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Yet the Bruins, with a favorable five-game schedule since returning from the holiday break, couldn’t take advantage against teams like the Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs and Senators. Even with an impressive win over the Red Wings in that span, the Black and Gold entered PNC Arena in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon needing to get two points against a lowly Hurricanes squad.

Instead they only got one point, and they were lucky to do so. The Black and Gold went nearly 17 minutes before firing a shot on goal. Then, in a case where desperation should’ve set in, the B’s were anything but desperate in the third period and overtime as they looked to escape with those two points.

A day after Claude Julien said the Bruins’ effort was “good enough to win” after their 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, the team’s effort against the Hurricanes was nowhere to be seen. And once again they are left with more questions than answers.

On Boston.com: Bruins effort in question after loss to Sens

“It’s definitely frustrating – I think that’s an understatement,” Patrice Bergeron told the press after the shootout loss. “The bottom line at this point – especially this time of year given our position in the standings – it’s about results.”

Solutions are few and far between with the current Bruins roster. Going from perennial Stanley Cup contender to mediocrity is starting to take its toll. Their scoring woes have hurt this team. Worse, the locker room is missing character guys like Shawn Thornton and Johnny Boychuk.

This leads to everyone needing to do more than they’re asked, especially for Tuukka Rask, who is asked to bail out his team night in and night out this season. Even the reigning Vezina winner is still scratching his head, and is still looking for solutions.

During his postgame media session, Rask tried to make light of the situation with the members of the Bruins media who traveled with the team to Raleigh on Sunday.

“Maybe mix in a couple of beers before the game,” Rask joked (via CSNNE.com). “That would make us relax. That might be the final option.”

Cam Neely and Peter Chiarelli both made the trip to catch the Black and Gold this afternoon. It’s well known that Chiarelli’s mishandling of the salary cap – coupled with the questionable trades of Boychuk and Tyler Seguin – has put the team in this position, and it’s leaving fans calling for his removal.

That remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain, the 20 men who don the Black and Gold this season aren’t good enough. The Bruins have officially hit rock bottom and roster changes are the first thing that needs to happen. Obviously that is easier said than done given that the B’s are under $1 million in cap space, and with half the team locked up with no-trade clauses, it will be easier said than done to get players like Brad Marchand and Milan Lucic to move elsewhere. Even if Chiarelli wanted to move Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell, he would get very little, if anything, in return.

Still, the Bruins hitting rock bottom is alarming. And at this rate, there’s a good chance that TD Garden will be vacant when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin in mid-April.