BOSTON _ Exactly what it will take for the Blackhawks to be granted some respect isn't clear, but their seven-game winning streak didn't do it.
Sure, victories over the Islanders and Capitals started the streak, but those came nearly a month ago. More attention has been paid to the last five wins, all against teams either on the cusp of or far outside the playoff race.
Start beating some good teams consistently and maybe _ maybe _ the Hawks can be taken seriously.
"We feel good about how we're playing," Hawks coach Jeremy Colliton said before Tuesday's game against the Bruins, who came into the game fourth in the Eastern Conference with 70 points. "It doesn't matter who we're up against."
Or maybe it does.
The Hawks were dominated in the first period, allowing three unanswered goals en route to a 6-3 loss at TD Garden. It snapped their longest winning streak in two years and essentially reset their season once again.
There are still 25 games remaining, and there's no shame in a road loss to a tough opponent, but a new winning streak needs to start immediately for the Hawks to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Bruins played without leading scorer David Pastrnak, who injured his thumb Sunday after attending a sponsorship dinner. He requires surgery that will sideline him for at least two weeks.
That didn't matter in the first period, even after Bruins goalie Tuuka Rask allowed a fluke goal on what appeared to be nothing more than a dump-in from near the blue line by Alex DeBrincat. The puck somehow found its way through Rask and into the net to give DeBrincat his 29th goal, a new career-high.
DeBrincat's goal extended his career-high point streak to nine games. Patrick Kane had a third-period assist to increase the NHL's longest active point streak to 15 consecutive games.
The Hawks had the game's first two power plays, including a 5-on-3 for 49 seconds. But they couldn't take advantage, and soon the Bruins began to swarm Hawks goalie Collin Delia. They couldn't solve him until near the end of the period, when they scored three times in 4 minutes, 12 seconds to take control.
If the Hawks want to resume their winning ways, they can start by limiting shots on goal. They entered Tuesday allowing 35.3 shots per game, second most in the NHL behind the Senators' 36.6.
Despite outscoring opponents 37-20 during their winning streak, the Hawks were outshot 264-235 over the seven games. Four teams _ the Wild, Lightning, Red Wings and Islanders _ have had their season-high shot total against the Hawks.
The Bruins outshot the Hawks 14-7 in the first period and 37-26 for the game.
"Just because you give up shots doesn't mean (they're good) chances," Colliton said. "We're looking at chances _ what kind of chances, it's not the total picture. We want to be tighter. We want to give up less. We want to play in our end less. But I think we're better than we were before and we'll keep getting better."
