Nineteen seconds into Thursday’s contest with the Ottawa Senators, the Bruins found themselves behind the proverbial 8-ball thanks to Kyle Turris’ 18th goal of the season. A crazy way to start an extremely important hockey game for sure, but unfortunately for the Bruins the craziness was just beginning.

In what was a loud Canadian Tire Centre, the Bruins failed to extend their lead over the Senators in the Eastern Conference playoff race and thanks to their 6-4 loss Thursday night, they now hold just a two point lead over Ottawa for the final wild card spot.

In a game that featured two goals in the opening minute and then three second period goals in a span of 2:32, the Bruins couldn’t handle the red-hot Senators.

Sure there were positives the Bruins can take out of the loss. Goals by Carl Soderberg and Torey Krug snapped lengthy scoring droughts, Ryan Spooner notched two goals in his return to his hometown and the Bruins managed to settle down with two unanswered goals following Turris’ opening tally.

At the end of the day, the negatives outweighed the positives and the Bruins allowed the Senators to inch just a bit closer in the standings. From Reilly Smith’s rough night to multiple defense breakdowns, the Bruins certainly did not do themselves any favors.

Knowing they would have their hands full against a Senators team with wins in eight of their last ten, the Bruins were simply unprepared for a very important game. After a disappointing shootout loss to the lowly Sabres on Tuesday, a loss in Ottawa was the last thing the B’s needed.

“When you look at the game the feeling is they seemed to want it more than we did,” head coach Claude Julien told the media following the loss. “At one point you need to start looking in the mirror.”

Not to take credit away from the rest of the guys on the Senators roster, but the play of rookie Andrew Hammond has been the key to the Senators turnaround and a big reason as to why the Sens are still buzzing in the playoff race.

Thursday’s contest was the first time all season any team was able to get more than two pucks past the 27-year old. Hammond’s record improved to 12-0-1 on the season with his first win against the Bruins.

Resiliency was definitely in the Bruins vocabulary in their loss as they erased deficits of 1-0, 3-2, and 4-3, but a bouncing puck managed to sneak by Tuukka Rask for the game winner, a goal that deflated the B’s for good.

The Senators are not going anywhere. They showed the Bruins that first hand on Thursday night. With a game in hand and three more game against the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins can’t afford too many let downs.

“It’s all about commitment and how much you want it and how badly you want it, and tonight I guess we didn’t want it bad enough,” Julien told NESN’S Jack Edwards and Andy Brickley following the loss. “I would have liked to see our team play a little bit more to win the hockey game and would have liked to see us bring a little bit more offensively. Right now, we need a lot more out of a lot of guys, and we’re just not getting enough right now. It’s disappointing this time of year the way you’re fighting that you’re not getting those kind of results.”

A handful of let downs in the season’s final weeks could result in a long off-season for the Bruins. No one wearing Black and Gold wants that.