Well... shit.

The Boston Bruins entered the preseason with tempered expectations, but the hope of an improvement. The offense had seen some upgrades through development and the addition of Saku Koivu. Shooting accuracy was up in practices, Tim Connolly was returning to the point, the team appeared to have more scoring wingers than in the past.

Which is all fine and good - but they need to shoot the fucking puck to score!

In a simply embarrassing 4-1 loss at home against division foe Toronto, the Bruins were outshot by nearly a three-to-one margin, thirty-nine to fourteen. The Leafs had as many shots in both the first and second periods as the Bruins did the whole game, and all four Toronto goals came in the first period, when, arguably, the Bruins should have been freshest.

Being put on the penalty kill six times for twelve minutes, or one-fifth of the game, surely did not help matters. Head coach Robbie ftorek continued to scream at his team to not take such stupid penalties, but being the Bruins... it's what they do. Sean Brown and Martin Samuelsson led the team with four minutes a piece.

However, the team also failed to capitalize on its own opportunities for power play goals. In the second period, the Bruins had the man advantage following a Dennis Gauthier elbowing whistle at 12:09, and Shawn Horcoff roughing call at 18:53, though they still only attempted five shots on goal.

Seventeen thousand, five hundred sixty-five fans had to go home disappointed. The lone offensive bright spot for them came when hometown hero Andy McDonald scored on a pick-and-breakaway at 06:10 of the third period, beating Evgeni Nabokov to the glove side.

Despite the setback, the Bruins expect to rebound against the Senators, in Ottawa, tomorrow night.