from Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald,

In recent seasons, Chiarelli iced one of the most physically imposing teams in the league with plenty of size and toughness throughout the lineup. Against the Kings, especially, the B’s seemed overmatched, with few players beyond Milan Lucic capable of standing up to the rough and ready Kings.

Against a Sharks team that isn’t as good as LA or Anaheim, Julien admitted his team was shown as being not very good.

“It looked like we were exposed just because we were so bad,” said Julien.

The B’s like to regard themselves as a hard team to play against. But when you subtract Jarome Iginla, Shawn Thornton, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara and Adam McQuaid, you’re left with a lightweight roster that doesn’t intimidate anyone....

The B’s problems extend beyond a three-game losing streak, and the hoped-for returns of Chara and David Krejci soon after the team flies home tomorrow will help immensely. Of course, the status of those two is not known. Will they be ready when the Bruins face another mega-challenge, the Chicago Blackhawks, on Thursday? Will they be able to stay in the lineup when they do return? Even with all the woes this season, if all the key pieces are back in place, this should be a playoff team.

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