If the Bruins barely miss the playoffs come April, they will no doubt look back on these first two months of the season and lament “If only … ”

Five times they have been in tie games late in the third period and come away with nothing, not even the loser point.

Let’s review the growing list of calamities:

Oct. 19, at Utah – The B’s entered the third period tied with the Mammoth but JJ Peterka steals the puck from Marat Khusnutdinov and then feeds Dylan Guenther for the game-winner with 9:23 left.

Oct. 21 vs Florida – In Brad Marchand’s homecoming, the B’s battle back from an early two-goal deficit and then another late one-goal disadvantage to tie it on Morgan Geekie’s 6-on-5 goal at 18:29. But in the final minute, the B’s allow the Panthers to attack the zone with speed and Carter Verhaeghe’s shot goes off the post then Andrew Peeke’s skate for the GWG with 26 seconds left.

Oct. 23 vs. Anaheim – The B’s battle back from a two-goal third period deficit to tie it on Geekie’s goal at 14:57. But just 30 seconds later, a miscommunication between Charlie McAvoy and Mason Lohrei leaves Troy Terry wide open for the winner.

Nov. 13 at Ottawa – Hampus Lindholm can’t connect with Sean Kuraly on breakout pass and mayhem ensues. Tim Stutzle eventually evades coverage and scores a backdoor goal at 14:17 of the third that holds up as the winner.

Nov. 19 at Anaheim – Despite controlling the play for much of the first two periods, the B’s find themselves in a two-goal hole in the second period. Michael Eyssimont’s goal late in the second gets them to within a goal and Geekie ties it on the PP at 7:39 of the third. But then the Ducks dominate the next 10 minutes and Ian Moore’s blue line shot beats a screened Joonas Korpisalo for the winner.

If the B’s had managed to get, say, three of those five games into overtime and even lost in the extra session, they would be in a much more comfortable situation.

On Wednesday in Anaheim, the B’s had been the better team for the first 50 minutes despite the deficit. But after they tied it up after a chasing the score most of the game, the Ducks simply flipped the script.

In speaking to reporters after the game in Anaheim, Nikita Zadorov gave his ever-blunt assessment.

“They had a couple of chances in the first period, second period we dominated and in the third period we dominated,” said Zadorov. “Then we started sitting back, I don’t know why. We played scared and when you play scared in this league, you’re going to lose hockey games. Can’t do it. We’ve just got to mature, grow up a little bit and take pride and don’t play scared. As soon as you sit back, they smell blood. (The Ducks) are really (good) offensively and they’re going to capitalize.”

While the B’s have shown resilience in fighting back from deficits, they too often seem spent once they finally catch up. They’ve not been at their best with the game on the line and the score tied.

“Every person deals with stress differently and you’ve got find a way, whatever way you need to to go out there and play an even game,” said Zadorov. “We talk about staying calm emotionally, don’t get too high or too low on each other, help each other. And I thought we did it through the first 50 minutes of the game. And then it just completely flipped the last 10 minutes … We’ve done it, what, four or five times already this year? Could have had four points at least. Could have been eight. You get the game to overtime and those points are important. We’re already 25 percent into the season. It’s time to mature a little bit and take responsibility. And play like a man.”

Zadorov has never been afraid to give his opinion. With the way he has played this year – he’d arguably be second in a hypothetical team MVP voting to David Pastrnak – that opinion is carrying more and more weight. That was evident on Wednesday when, with Charlie McAvoy and Elias Lindholm still out, Zadorov was given the third “A” along with Pastrnak and Hampus Lindholm.

At this critical juncture, with the B’s beset by injuries (they may need to add another one to the list after Jeffrey Viel hit his head on the ice in a fight with Radko Gudas), the big defenseman recognized the importance of that.

“It means a lot. It means the organization, management, coaching staff and players trust me to it,” said Zadorov. “I love being part of this. I take pride in being a leader of this team and push the guys. It’s especially dangerous right now. We have big shoes to fill with Charlie and Elias out of the lineup. But when I get a chance like that, I’m going to do my best and maybe give it a little more extra because those guys aren’t here.”

Now they face a tough Kings team on Friday, the improved Sharks team on Sunday and the surging Islanders next Wednesday. Not an easy road. A point or two in Anaheim would have helped matters.