Facing the most difficult schedule out of any team in the National Hockey League after the trade deadline, the Boston Bruins have fared pretty well against some tough competition.

Yes, the B’s hit a roadblock with their three recent losses out in California that dropped them back to third place in the Atlantic Division. But they made some progress in the seven games before that where they went 5-0-2 against the likes of the Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning and defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks.

With nine games left in the 2015-16, the Black and Gold sit at 86 points — three points behind the Lightning and Panthers for first place in the Atlantic. The Panthers await the Bruins — who travel to New York tonight to face the Rangers at Madison Square Garden — tomorrow night at TD Garden.

Amidst the highs and lows during a year of transition, head coach Claude Julien and company are finding a way to stay afloat in the playoff picture. They have not lost more than three in a row and have not won more than five consecutive games this season. But that can all go away if their struggles from their California trip carry over to the East.

“It’s consistency. We’ve been fairly consistent, and we haven’t had the big dips,” Julien told reporters after Tuesday’s practice in Wilmington (via Joe Haggerty of CSNNE). “That’s also important, and hopefully, we can end that [three-game losing streak]. It just reflects the kind of team we have as an overall thing. I think you can credit everybody for that.”

Give credit where credit is due indeed because the Bruins have had some bad losses this season that includes the Winter Classic no-show against the Canadiens, a 9-2 drubbing by the Kings in Milan Lucic’s return to Causeway Street last month and blowing multiple-goal leads against the likes of the Flyers and Sabres. As much as those losses could derail a season, the Bruins bounced back more often than not and find themselves two points ahead of last season’s pace at this point of the year.

The Black and Gold enter tonight’s game in New York with a three-point lead on the Red Wings and Flyers (who have a game in hand on the B’s), who are battling for the East’s final wild card spot. Their matchup against Detroit on the second to last game of the season on April 7th at TD Garden could go a long way in determining both team’s postseason positioning.

Still, the Bruins aren’t looking too far ahead to what could be. In the short term, they’re hoping to stop that season-long three-game losing streak against a Rangers team that scored two third period goals to defeat the Black and Gold, 2-1, in their last meeting.

“I’m not pleased with where we are because we’ve lost three in a row, but it’s not like we’re like, I guess, crumbling here,” Julien said. “We’ve just got to fix a few little things here, and give up little less as far as scoring chances if we want to be a little better. Also, we need to bury the [chances] that we do have.”

From not finishing their chances to getting secondary scoring from the third and fourth lines — a void that the recently called up Frank Vatrano hopes to fill — Julien and company certainly have some kinks to work on with nine games left. Four of those games are against teams currently in the top eight of their respective conference(s) — the Rangers, Panthers, Blues and Blackhawks. That leaves five games against the Maple Leafs, Devils, Senators, Hurricanes and Red Wings who are all outside of the top eight.

For better or for worse, these next nine games will prove what the Bruins are made of.