There is one quote that is commonly used to describe some of life’s everyday occurrences.

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

What happens when someone is fooled a third time? Well, to quote New England’s own Stephen King: “Fool me three times, shame on both of us.”

If the Boston Bruins aren’t careful, they will be entering familiar, but painful, territory for the third straight season.

In the ever-tight Eastern Conference playoff race, interim coach Bruce Cassidy and company had a chance to create some separation from the playoff bubble on back to back nights against the Maple Leafs and Senators. Coming off a brutal performance in Edmonton to close out their three-game Western Canadian swing, the Black and Gold needed to bounce back and string a couple of points together to improve their playoff chances.

They were deserving enough to earn at least one point against both the Senators and Maple Leafs. Maybe not the most ideal situation to have only notched one point against each club, but nonetheless, they really could’ve improved their chances of returning to the postseason.

Instead, they got a grand total of zero points and three goals in those two games of a very important four-game week.

“Last night [against Toronto], we were right there until two minutes to go where even though we weren’t scoring, we were in a position to get points. Tonight, again, a breakdown right after we scored,” Cassidy said postgame.

“So I think the focus has to be when you’re having tough luck around the net, you need to get points. And maybe these games end up 1-1, 2-2, they’re going into shootouts or overtime and you accumulate your points that way. And I think that’s where the last two games have been disappointing. You know, we should have had points. It may not have been wins, but we should have been there at the end and playing 65 minutes or whatever it took to finish it.”

What can the Bruins take out of Tuesday’s loss in particular? Moral victories for responding twice to Ottawa’s first two goals? Or for keeping the pressure on Craig Anderson and finding a way to get through Guy Boucher’s 1-3-1 system to create those scoring chances?

If you ask Torey Krug, well, forget about it.

“Yeah, but it’s that cliche – that there are no moral victories anymore,” said Krug, who scored a highlight reel goal on a 4-on-3 power play 17 seconds into the third period to even things up at 2-2. “We have to find a way to get results.”

Thankfully for Cassidy and company, the Bruins got a little bit of help with the Arizona Coyotes’ 5-3 win over Thursday’s opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Bruins currently hold a five-point edge over the Bolts.

On the flip side, the B’s could very well sink to eighth place in the East. A Leafs victory over the Blue Jackets in Columbus would move the Bruins from third in the Atlantic to the second wild card spot.

Not to forget, Saturday’s opponent, the New York Islanders, could sit two points in back of the Bruins with a win on Wednesday against the in-state rival Rangers. Yes, the same Islanders team that have already beaten the Bruins twice – both at TD Garden.

With the last two late regular season collapses now fresh on the Bruins fans minds, the Black and Gold need to give the faithful on Causeway Street something to cheer for. Otherwise, they may be fooling everyone for a third straight time.

“Well, I mean, every year writes its own story. There’s a lot of guys in that room that weren’t here last year, including myself,” Cassidy said. “So we’d like to write our own story.”

Nine more games to change the script.