To say that this past week was an embarrassment for the Boston Bruins is like saying that Donald Brashear is a gentle giant. Some said these losses were the end of the road for the 2007-08 Bruins, but they might actually have been the best thing that could've happened to them.

Losing three games to teams below them in the Eastern standings exposed a less-determined Bruins team that had to take a step back and realize how much work their defense needed. The recent thrashings given to the Bruins can only be a gut-check to a team bent on proving everyone wrong from the beginning of the season.

Giving up a total of 19 goals in three games and only scoring four doesn't bode well for a team's stretch run while desperately holding onto a 6th place spot. The defense was sluggish, the penalties were foolish and inopportune, and the goaltending was anything but stellar. Both Tim Thomas and Alex Auld seemed hell-bent on guessing where the puck was going as opposed to stopping it.

Auld's performance against the Florida Panthers was the only reason why the Bruins were able to stay in that game until overtime. The overall defense was better in that game, but the offense just couldn't get the puck past the extremely hot Craig Anderson's pads. Overall, with the performances the Bruins put out this past week, they were lucky to come away with a point from their overtime loss.

As for the Toronto Maple Leafs game, the B's couldn't get their game together after scoring the first goal in the first period of the game, which is usually the harbinger of good news for this team. The defense collapsed, and a flurry of penalties led to four Leafs power play goals. The penalty killing took a massive hit the past 5 days, Tim Thomas gave up 5 goals himself, and Aaron Ward is still injured after getting a shot to the foot. Things were looking really bad for the Bruins as the New York Rangers pulled ahead of them in the standings, and the team seemed to be falling apart.

Although the losses came at a very crucial time of the season, they were the kind of losses that test the true mettle of a team. Forcing the players to look at themselves in the mirror and really figure out what's wrong, the Bruins came into Saturday's matinee against the Washington Capitals looking for revenge from the 10-2 blowout suffered only days earlier.

Milan Lucic and Matt Bradley threw down the gloves five seconds into the game, and Shawn Thornton and Donald Brashear got into their own tussle nine seconds later. The Bruins wanted to send a message and for a while, it looked as if the pressure was on the Capitals. However, a goal by Brooks Laich (set up by Alex Ovechkin, of course) took the wind out of the B's sails. The rest of the game would be a struggle for the Bruins to keep the Caps from scoring again, but they also couldn't get their own plan of attack to execute a tying goal.

The third period brought about a pivotal point in the game—and perhaps the season—for Boston. Brashear's goon mentality shone through as he high-sticked and bloodied David Krejci, leading to an automatic four-minute double-minor. But that wasn't the end, as he gave a cheap left hook to Shane Hnidy, adding two more minutes for roughing. The stage would be set for the Bruins to finally get a chance to redeem their power play and overall performance and Zdeno Chara's slapshot goal got the monkey off the team's back. David Krejci would then setup a slick pass in front of the Caps' net to Marco Sturm, who buried the one-timer for a 2-1 lead and eventual, much needed win.

The Bruins were finally able to end their losing streak which showed great lapses of any sort of good performance. No doubt Claude Julien was determined to keep the Boston squad focused and keen on their successful defensive strategy. The most important aspect of their heart-breaking losses, however, would have to be the humble pie served to a team that may have been getting to big for its britches. With the win, the Bruins have only one more thing to be worried about: Will Tim Thomas bounce back?