The last time the Bruins dropped six games in a row, it was March 2015 — when a retooling roster mired in no-man’s land was charting a course toward a failed postseason bid.
The more things change . . .
The 2024-25 Bruins find themselves cut from a similar cloth, with a season that once started with so much promise teetering on the brink of disaster.
Once seemingly revitalized after Joe Sacco took the reins of a rudderless operation in mid-November, the wheels have fallen off once again for a team hindered by poor roster construction and a carousel of underperforming regulars.
The numbers aren’t pretty after the Bruins’ latest letdown, Thursday’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning.
The Bruins are yet to post a win in 2025, with just one since the holiday break — Dec. 28, against a goalie sporting a .857 save percentage in Columbus’s Daniil Tarasov.
Over this six-game slide, the Bruins have been outscored, 24-11, and have just 11:05 of lead time.
A two-goal cushion for the Lightning after 40 minutes all but sealed the Bruins’ fate on Thursday, with Boston scoring one goal or fewer in 13 of its 44 games.
The 31st-ranked power play has not converted in eight games, while only seven teams have scored fewer five-on-five goals.
Add in a 25th-ranked penalty kill (75.9 percent), a porous zone defense, and a pedestrian season from goalie Jeremy Swayman (.893 save percentage), and the Bruins are clinging to a wild-card spot with the Blue Jackets and Penguins just a point behind them.
The Bruins are one of three teams in the playoff picture with a negative goal differential. Their minus-27 mark stands worst in the entire Eastern Conference, and fourth-worst across the NHL.
In other words, the 2024-25 Bruins might just be what they are: a middling team bracing for a long offseason or a first-round playoff exit.
It’s been a frustrating season, a sentiment further fueled by the Bruins’ inaction when it comes to shaking up an underperforming lineup at this critical juncture.
The need for a change — be it a call-up from Providence or a message-sending trade — has been long overdue.
A game removed from fans at TD Garden calling for the firing of Don Sweeney, the Bruins made no lineup tweaks before traveling to Florida for matchups against the Lightning and Panthers.
While the Bruins’ brass grapple with what might be the correct (albeit painful) course of action when it comes to potentially selling off pieces before the March 7 trade deadline, the unwillingness to call up young talent in hopes of a short-term spark remains puzzling.
It remains to be seen just what Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell, and Georgii Merkulov have to offer at the NHL level — and whether it’s just wishful thinking that these unproven forwards have the capabilities to right the ship on a punchless forward corps.
But the Bruins also won’t have those answers if they continue to let them marinate in Providence while players not long for a Black and Gold sweater such as Oliver Wahlstrom or underperforming regulars such as Trent Frederic continue to not move the needle.
Yes, we all know the flaws when it comes to the Bruins’ presumed next wave of youngsters.
Poitras needs to avoid putting himself in vulnerable positions and put on some pounds. Merkulov and Lysell have work to do when it comes to managing the puck.
It likely won’t be pretty at times if all three are given a shot this winter.
But would those lapses and miscues be any different than what we’ve already seen from the players sitting pretty at hockey’s highest level?
If the campaign is already looking like a lost year, the onus falls on the brass to draw whatever silver linings they can by fostering the development of the team’s shallow prospect pool.
If the likes of Poitras and Lysell can’t hold their own, at least the Bruins and a fan base starved for skill and excitement finally have some clarity. If they hit, the Bruins have some new building blocks to add to their foundation.
For now, the Bruins seem content to spin their wheels in hopes of a midseason spark from a roster already running on fumes. Be it the embrace of a youth movement, selling off unrestricted free agents for draft capital, or even moving foundational pieces in hopes of a major reshuffle, something’s got to give.
This roster isn’t cutting it.
Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.