from Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald,

If you hope to solve the perplexing riddle of just what kind of team the Bruins truly are, check back about a month from now, after we’ve seen them perform in the playoffs, when the truth about teams and individual players tends to be exposed to the world.

For now, just scratch your heads, Bruins fans, and behold the enigma of a club that can be so good at times — and be the exact opposite at other times. Both were plainly on display Saturday night in Los Angeles, where the B’s closed their 0-for California trip with the same sort of performance as in San Jose and Anaheim: They were very good for much of the game, far less so in other parts of the match.

That’s not a formula for success down the stretch of the regular season, and certainly not in the postseason. The story of this enigmatic hockey team this season has been inconsistency.

Now, as Brad Marchand noted after the 2-1 loss to the Kings, no team can play a perfect 60 minutes. But the performance swings of the B’s are so extreme, who knows if this team can win in the playoffs?

No, amend that: It’s obvious the Bruins could be a very effective playoff performer, if they play the brand of hard-working, aggressive, sharp and smothering hockey they did for 38 minutes in LA.

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