Not much else to be said after the Boston Bruins dropped back-to-back games to the Tampa Bay Lightning to fall behind in the series 2 games to 1.

Jaroslav Halak wasn’t great in Game 2, and was downright brutal in Game 3, getting the hook after four goals allowed.

But he had a lot of help- the team could have won Game 2, but squandered the opportunity and then was listless, with no push in Game 3, especially when falling behind early.

Sure, the on-ice officials certainly didn’t help matters with a ticky-tack call that led to a power play goal head coach Bruce Cassidy called out after the game. Then there was the egregious interference by the linesman on Jeremy Lauzon at the defensive blue line which led to another goal.

The Bruins just couldn’t get out of first gear, and Dan Vladar’s NHL debut in relief of Halak looked more like Malcolm Subban’s first taste of big league action as the team did very little in front of him and the ‘Bolts’ goals kept piling up.

The Boston PK needs help- it is too passive and the goaltending hasn’t helped, but the series will be over quickly if the B’s don’t A. find a way to stay out of the box, and B. employ a more aggressive scheme to disrupt and prevent Tampa from setting up- their offensive shooters are killing it. And, this is a team that doesn’t have Steven Stamkos in the lineup, either.

Boston needs to find a way to slow down Tampa’s speed game through the neutral zone and must get a better performance from the defense, which has been far too loose and ineffective in the last several games, including the third period of Game 1.

It’s just a 2-1 deficit but given the way the last two games have gone, it seems like much worse of a situation for the B’s. It’s time to see what the team can do to respond. Perhaps putting sparkplug Karson Kuhlman into the lineup and bringing Connor Clifton will give them some needed juice.

No place to go but up.