Slow starts plague Bruins

Much has been made of the Bruins’ fast start this season, and for good reason. Lately, however, it’s been a series of slow starts that have puzzled the Black and Gold.

After scoring first in 25 of their opening 34 games this season, the B’s have failed to do so in five straight contests, instead being forced to play from behind and search for a cause for this curious trend.

“I think out of the gate we have to be hungrier to get that first goal because everyone knows how important that first goal is to build momentum,” Bruins left wing Milan Lucic said. “It could be a good wake-up call that we need to have better starts and try to take over the game from start to finish.”

Early struggles are a simple afterthought when the team finds a way to win, as it has done so often this season. But in Saturday’s 4-2 loss to Buffalo, the B’s were down 2-0 less than six minutes in and never found the equalizer.

A nearly 60-minute uphill climb simply hammers home the point made by Lucic. The numbers back it up, too. Heading into tonight’s meeting with Minnesota at TD Banknorth Garden, the Bruins are 8-4-3 when allowing the first goal and 21-2-1 in games in which they strike first.

Despite the numbers, coach Claude Julien said the trend was not “that big of an issue.”

“The bottom line is at the end of the night, did you play well enough to win a hockey game?” Julien said when asked about the slow starts. “That’s what we look at.”