Entering the final game of the 2014-15 season, the Boston Bruins need some major help to get into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

At this rate, the Bruins can’t help themselves.

In Thursday’s game versus a Florida Panthers team with nothing to play for, the B’s couldn’t finish their chances against Roberto Luongo. They couldn’t build off an emotional boost from Adam McQuaid hammering Jonathan Huberdeau and dropping the gloves with Alex Petrovic. They couldn’t ride behind Patrice Bergeron after he gave his team a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal in the second period.

Instead, the same defensive breakdowns from various points of the season came back to haunt the Black and Gold against the upstart Panthers resulting in a 4-2 loss in Sunrise, Fla.

The loss, coupled with the Sens win over a Rangers team that clinched the Presidents’ Trophy Tuesday night, leaves the B’s playoff fate out of their hand entering Saturday’s regular season finale with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“We’ve been a group, a proud group, that’s always wanted to do things on our own,” Chris Kelly told the press following the loss in South Florida. “And now we’re looking for help.”

By the time the third period came around, the Bruins did not have their legs. The Panthers skated circles around them and took advantage of the deflated B’s.

There was a bit of hope that Brad Marchand would provide a much-needed spark for the Black and Gold when he cut the Panthers lead to 3-2 and snapped his 15-game goal drought. That quickly evaporated when Dennis Seidenberg committed a turnover in his own end and Dorchester’s own Jimmy Hayes pounced on the loose puck to make it 4-2 at 15:14 of the third – 1:59 after Marchand’s 23rd of the season.

A too many men call late in the third where Marchand jumped the boards while the Bruins were trying to get Tuukka Rask to the bench for the extra attacker provided a comedic ending to Game No. 81 of the season.

“We didn’t have our skating legs in the third period,” Tuukka Rask told reporters after making 26 saves. “And when you start making mistakes, it kind of snowballs from there.”

Thursday’s game against the Panthers proved that the Bruins’ sense of urgency was not up to par with a team eliminated from playoff contention. For a team fighting for their postseason lives, it’s an example of why the second season is more of a pipe dream entering Game No. 82.

The Bruins could be eliminated by the time they play Saturday night. The Penguins would clinch a playoff berth Friday night with a win over the Islanders, who stamped their ticket to the postseason on Thursday. If the Pens win on Friday, all the Sens would need is one point in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon to wrap up their playoff berth before the B’s step foot on the ice against the Lightning later that evening (Pittsburgh also plays in Buffalo on Saturday to wrap up its regular season).

From Peter Chiarelli’s mishandling of the salary cap and questionable contract extensions to third and fourth line players and the departures of Jarome Iginla, Johnny Boychuk and Shawn Thornton, to Claude Julien’s personnel decisions and a roster that has more passengers than conductors, it’s clear that the responsibility bears on everyone in the organization.

The Bruins are one step closer to missing the playoff for the first time since the 2006-07 season. They may be closer to seeing some changes across the board and an off-season full of uncertainty. And they have no one to blame but themselves.