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Trouble Bruin: B’s lose again, off to first 0-3 start in 16 years

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With only eight players remaining from the Bruins' Stanley Cup Championship team can they make it back to the playoffs this season? Neither Mike Halford or Jason Brough see Boston making it to postseason this year.

The times, they are tough in Boston.

The Bruins continued their ugly start to the ’15-16 campaign on Monday, dropping a 6-3 decision at TD Garden to the defending Eastern Conference champion Lightning.

Brian Boyle led the way for Tampa Bay with a pair of goals, while captain Steve Stamkos potted the eventual game-winner on the power play, the 500th point of his career.

For some, the focus of today’s game will be on the Bolts, who once again looked impressive and kept their record at a perfect 3-0.

The reality, though, is that most will focus on the Bruins.

The loss was Boston’s third to start the season, marking the first time in 16 years the club’s started 0-3. The last team to do it, the ’99-00 Bruins, went on to finish dead last in the old Northeast Division, and missed the playoffs.

As has been the case throughout this season, Boston’s undoing on Monday was an inability to keep pucks out of the net.

After surrendering six in the opener against Winnipeg and four on Saturday against Montreal, the B’s watched as Tampa Bay pumped another six past Tuukka Rask, including this very suspect insurance marker from Jonathan Drouin:

Rask’s numbers on the year are now downright ghastly: 0-3 record, .846 save percentage and 4.66 GAA.

Today’s loss also comes with the Bruins in a state of potential upheaval.

Defenseman Matt Irwin, signed as a free agent this summer, cleared waivers after two bad performances and was shipped off to the club’s AHL affiliate in Providence.

Meanwhile, a report from CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty claims the front office is “quietly” gauging the trade market for veterans like Brad Marchand and captain Zdeno Chara.