The Boston Bruins let a valuable two points slip away Thursday night in Ottawa in one of the craziest games of the season.

The Sens struck first just 19 seconds into the game to take a 1-0 lead, but Carl Soderberg tied it just 40 seconds later to end his scoring draught of 25 games. The Black and Gold took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Ryan Spooner, but Milan Michalek answered back to tie the score at 2-2 at the end of the first period.

It was a back and forth game all night long. Ottawa took a 3-2 lead and then a 4-3 lead before Boston answered back on both accounts to tie the game at 4-4 at the end of two periods, but the Sens scored the lone two goals in the third period for the 6-4 victory over Claude Julien’s all of a sudden reeling team.

On Boston.com: Bruins’ roller coaster season takes another crazy turn

Ottawa now trails the B’s by just two points in the standings (with game in hand) for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. With an off day Friday, the B’s will travel to Florida to face off against the Panthers who are just five points behind Boston.

Florida is 6-3-1 in its last 10 games and they are coming off a 3-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. Boston is 6-2-2 in its last 10 games, but have recorded just one point in its last three contests.

In their last meeting with the Panthers, the B’s ruined Shawn Thornton’s homecoming in a 2-1 overtime win off the stick of Brad Marchand.

Here is your complete Bruins-Panthers preview:

Gametime: 7:00 PM
Records: Bruins 36-24-11 (83 points)/Panthers 32-25-14 (78 points)
TV/Radio: NESN, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Location: BB & T Center

Bruins’ projected lines:

Brad Marchand-Patrice Bergeron-Reilly Smith/David Krejci
Milan Lucic-Ryan Spooner-David Pastrnak
Chris Kelly-Carl Soderberg-Loui Eriksson
Daniel Paille-Gregory Campbell-Max Talbot

Zdeno Chara-Dougie Hamilton
Matt Bartkowski-Dennis Seidenberg
Torey Krug-Adam McQuaid

Tuukka Rask
Niklas Svedberg

Panthers’ projected lines:

Brandon Pirri-Nick Bjugstad-Brad Boyes
Jonathan Huberdeau-Aleksander Barkov-Jaromir Jagr
Jussi Jokinen-Vincent Trocheck-Dave Bolland
Tomas Kopecky-Derek MacKenzie-Scottie Upshall

Brian Campbell-Aaron Ekblad
Willie Mitchell-Erik Gudbranson
Dmitry Kulikov-Alex Petrovic

Roberto Luongo
Dan Ellis

Who to watch for Bruins: Reilly Smith

Reilly Smith may have hit rock bottom while playing in a Bruins’ sweater. Since inking his new extension to remain with the B’s for the next two seasons, it’s almost as if Smith has stopped trying.

Thursday night in Ottawa was tough to watch. Smith was a minus-3, he recorded zero shots and he had a crucial giveaway that led to a goal by the Sens. In his last 12 games, he has zero goals and just four assists.

Smith was demoted to the fourth line Thursday and only managed 7:50 of ice time. It was clear that Julien was sending a message to the 23 year-old.

If Smith doesn’t pick up his game, he could be enjoying the games from the press box when Krejci returns, which could be as soon as tonight.

Who to watch for Panthers: Brandon Pirri

Pirri has been unstoppable for the Panthers as of late. In just 38 games this season, the 23 year-old has 17 goals.

Over his last 19 games, Pirri has notched 14 of those goals including goals in fourth straight games and seven of his last 10 games.

We know what Jagr can do on the ice, but the B’s haven’t gotten a look at this new weapon for the Panthers yet this season.

It seems as if Pirri is in the box score every night for the Panthers (because he is), but the B’s must stop that trend if they want to start trending in the right direction again with points being at a premium.

Game Day Edge: Play with fire

The Bruins know they control their own destiny. If they keep winning, they will hold one of the last two playoff spots in the Eastern conference. Julien’s team can’t get comfortable though. They need to play like the desperate team instead of their oppositions.

Allowing the Senators to score the first goal 19 seconds into one of the biggest games of the season was unacceptable. Sure, they answered back, but it’s no way to start a game. They need to be better prepared mentally.

Scoring first and building that two-goal lead is what makes the B’s successful. It allows them to play their style and dictate the game. Letting teams hang around is what gets them into trouble as we saw Thursday night as well as Tuesday night against the historically bad Sabres.

If the B’s want to be playing playoff hockey in Boston in a month, they need to start playing desperate.