The Bruins could have helped their own cause in their chase for a return trip to the playoffs. They didn’t.

In another must-win game, the Black and Gold had numerous chances to take care of business against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night. Despite outshooting the Devils 40-15, including 16-3 in the third period, the B’s only got one past Keith Kinkaid and allowed two power play goals with Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara in the box. The 2-1 loss at the Prudential Center is arguably one of the most frustrating defeats for Claude Julien’s squad in 2015-16.

The good news, however? As strange as it was for Bostonians to root for the Canadiens, they got some much needed help from the hated rivals with Montreal’s 4-3 win over the Red Wings. That keeps the Bruins one point ahead of Detroit for third place in the Atlantic Division.

Here are a few things that we learned from Tuesday’s outcome.

The good and the bad of Brad Marchand

Brad Marchand broke an 8-game goal drought to tie things at 1-1 but later took an untimely penalty with the Bruins looking for the equalizer. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

Entering the night with a a season-long eight game scoring drought, Marchand picked a good time to pick up the slack. Down 1-0, the Bruins’ leading scorer tallied his 35th of the season with a beautiful backhander to give his team their only goal of the night.

Pushing for the equalizer, Marchand’s edgier side got the worst of him when he slashed Devils defenseman Adam Larsson in the Bruins’ attacking end with 1:11 left in regulation. That pretty much sealed the deal as the B’s went shorthanded the rest of the way.

Deja vu with Bruins offense?

Loui Eriksson and the Bruins’ offense has gone south during this seven-game stretch. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

Numerous personalities and pundits have compared this recent six losses in seven games skid to last year’s collapse. One of the similarities that they point out is their offense going south.

Since their first of three contests in California, the Bruins have scored just 10 goals in their last seven games. They’ve only scored two or more goals in three of those games, including Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Maple Leafs. Last year, they actually had 15 goals in that stretch and came out with a 3-2-2 record to end March before they suffered their own case of April fools.

It’s not like the Bruins didn’t have their chances in that span. Tuesday proved that they are doing enough to create quality scoring opportunities. From odd man rushes to chances in the dirty area, they couldn’t capitalize against the Devils.

From the core of Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to Loui Eriksson, Lee Stempniak, David Pastrnak and Ryan Spooner, Julien is going to need his players to finish their opportunities. Otherwise, this will come back to haunt the Black and Gold, again.

The road ahead

The road ahead for Patrice Bergeron and the Bruins gets more difficult when they travel to St. Louis on Friday night. (Photo by Joe Makarski, Bruins Daily)

Having been a good team away from TD Garden all season long, the Bruins face two tough tests to close out their road slate in 2015-16. It all starts in St. Louis on Friday night and closes out against the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks in Chicago for a Sunday matinee.

A chance to create a three-point cushion on the Red Wings, who they’ll face in the second to last game of the season a week from Thursday, was squandered on Tuesday night. As a result, the Bruins need to get at least one win — if not two — against the Blues and Blackhawks.