Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov argues after drawing an interference penalty after colliding with Edmonton goaltender Stuart Skinner during a 4-0 Boston loss on Tuesday. Charles Krupa/Associated Press

BOSTON — At the micro level, the Boston Bruins are in the midst of a five-game losing streak. At the macro level, they’re set up to have a real battle in the second half to make the playoffs.

They returned home on Tuesday night to face the defending Western Conference champions featuring the best player it the world. Coming off a day off on Monday, they had every reason to be motivated, every reason to be energetic. But like too many nights during the 2024-25 season, they came out flat and never really challenged in a 4-0 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

“They were certainly playing at a higher level right from the drop of the puck. They won the majority of races to pucks. they were quicker to pucks, won more one-on-one battles,” Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco said. “We pretty much got what we deserved tonight because of the way we played.

“We didn’t execute the game plan tonight. We have to find some solutions within our team. That’s the next step for us.”

The Bruins are acknowledging that they’ve got issues, but don’t have answers to why.

“That’s a question we’re trying to figure out,” Trent Frederic said. “I don’t have the answer to that.”

He’s not alone and he made better attempts than some of his teammates. Frederic tried to spark his team with a fight, but even that didn’t produce the desired effect. He got an extra two minutes and the Oilers extended their lead on the power play.

“We haven’t been our best since (Christmas) break. We’ve gotten away a little bit from the way that we were playing to have success,” Brad Marchand said. “It’s on us to play a better brand of hockey, the way that we were before the break.”

Nikita Zadorov thought the recent slump was in the players’ heads.

“It’s frustrating to lose five in a row. There’s not much confidence out there right now. We’re thinking too much. We’re a half step behind everybody. We’re not playing hard enough. We’re not connected. There’s a lot of things we need to take day by day,” he said. “I thought we played really good hockey before the break. We had our details. We had our swagger. We had our hard work. We were so detailed with everything. We have to get back to basics. Starting with myself we have to look in the mirror to be better overall.”

The Bruins are currently in third place in the Atlantic Division but are aided greatly by having played more games. Using points percentage, they’d be in the second wild-card spot, the last team to make the playoffs if the season ended Wednesday.

“We understand the situation we’re in. We understand we can’t give points away,” Marchand said. “We’re not that far from moving up in our position in our division. We need to be better. We can’t continue to slip and give away points in the situation we’re in.”

Zadorov didn’t expect any sympathy.

“It’s our job. People pay big bucks to watch us do that,” he said. “It’s our job. There’s no excuses. You have to find a way.”

ZADOROV WAS trying to score not run over Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner late in the first period. Zadorov was rushing up the ice toward the net hoping for a tying goal with the Bruins down 1-0. He was crossing from the right wing across the goal mouth when he collided with Skinner.

The goalie tumbled, sprawling to the ice as his mask came off.

Zadorov thought Brett Kulak had shoved him behind with his forearm creating the contact. Zadorov was frustrated that not only did Kulak go unpenalized, but he was called for goaltender interference, the 14th different infraction of the season for Zadorov. He pleaded his case with referee Chris Rooney to no avail.

“I spoke to Chris. He thought it wasn’t enough push for me to skate into (Skinner). I’m a big guy and I had enough speed, that a push from behind, I couldn’t really get out of the way,” he said. “I was trying get my hands around him and try to put it far side to score a goal. Unfortunately, it happened like this. It was obviously an accident.”

Oilers medical staff attended to Skinner, who briefly left the game to be evaluated for a concussion. Calvin Pickard played 5:25 before Skinner returned, but didn’t face a shot.

While Zadorov was frustrated by the call, he still made it a point to tell Skinner the collision wasn’t intentional.

“I skated to him. I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody on the ice. I wouldn’t want anybody to do that to my goalie either,” Zadorov said. “I felt like it was fair to say there was no intention to hurt anybody out there.”

The goalie appreciated the gesture.

“He got me pretty good,” Skinner said. “I think that’s like the fifth hit I’ve got this year. He apologized after at the start of the second period, which was really nice of him to do. It’s an NHL play. It happened.”