BRIGHTON — “It’s frustrating, but the only way to get out of it is by having some confidence to finish the plays and keep plugging at it.”

The aforementioned quote from Patrice Bergeron is a perfect description of the state of the Bruins offense over the last five games. In that span, the Black and Gold have only lit the lamp nine times. They find themselves ranked tied for 22nd with the New York Islanders in goals scored with 48 and are just 10 removed from the worst offensive team in the league, the Buffalo Sabres, who spent the good chunk of the season without Jack Eichel.

The Bruins are a little more fortunate than the Sabres with the injury bug, at least when it comes to important offensive players. And when injuries do hit, they don’t hit too hard as seen with David Pastrnak who scored in his first two games back from an upper body injury.

Pastrnak’s output, however, is the exact number of goals the Bruins scored against the Senators and Flames in a 24-hour span. In Friday’s loss, the Bruins fired 36 shots on goal – 20 in the third period – but were stymied by former teammate Chad Johnson.

Unlike Thursday night in Ottawa where they were doomed by sloppy puck possession, the Bruins have had their share of opportunities to light the lamp a few more times over this recent five-game stretch. Instead, they are at a point where they have to overcome the mounting frustration.

“We have to stick with it and we have to bury our opportunities,” said Pastrnak, who sits in a four-way tie for second in the league in goals with 12, two behind leader Sidney Crosby. “I think we’ve had some good chances, but the thing is the [puck] just doesn’t want to go in now. I think we have so many great players on the team that knows that one goal can turn everything around. We have to keep battling hard for those opportunities and I’m pretty sure it’s coming because I always said we have a great team and some great players. So it’s just a question about timing.”

While teams at one point or another will go through a tough offensive stretch during the course of an 82-game season, the Bruins offensive challenges come at a time where they are outside the top eight of the Eastern Conference standings this Thanksgiving weekend. Teams who are in the top eight of their respective conference by this time have about a 70 percent chance of advancing to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in recent memory.

More concerning is the fact that, aside from Pastrnak, some of the Bruins’ key offensive players are struggling to find the back of the net. From Bergeron, who has one goal in his last 10 games, to Brad Marchand, who left Saturday’s practice after taking a puck to the knee from Adam McQuaid’s shot, and David Krejci scoring just twice in 21 games, the core Bruins are having a tough time finishing their chances.

Add to that the struggles of Ryan Spooner, who was demoted to the fourth line during Friday’s contest, and the problems with balanced scoring throughout the year put the Bruins in their current situation prior to Sunday’s matinee with the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden.

The last thing the Bruins can afford to do? Panic.

“We’re obviously struggling to put pucks in the back of the net,” Krejci said following Saturday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena where the Bruins worked on creating second and third scoring chances for roughly 40 minutes. “You saw today that we had a little fun so hopefully that will bring the confidence back and start scoring some goals.”