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Apr 2, 2010 - 8:39 PM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Boston (35-30-12) at Toronto (29-36-13), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Their season-long inconsistency and struggles on home ice make it difficult to believe the Boston Bruins will last very long in the postseason.

If they don't start scoring more goals, they may not be around to find out.

Clinging to one of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spots, the Bruins try to bounce back from a shutout loss and kick-start their offense Saturday night when they visit the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Boston (35-30-12) had the East's best offense and top record last season, but a lot has changed in a year's time. The Bruins are in position to grab one of the conference's final three playoff spots along with Philadelphia and Montreal, but Atlanta and the New York Rangers are lurking close behind.

After averaging 3.34 goals in 2008-09, Boston has dropped to 2.48 per game this season. The Bruins have totaled three goals in losing two of their last three, and couldn't get anything past Florida's Scott Clemmensen in a 1-0 home loss Thursday.

"There's only five games left, so there are 10 points out there," said forward Michael Ryder, who has one goal in 17 games since the Olympic break. "It's hard to find wins right now."

Goaltender Tuukka Rask, a 2005 first-round pick of the Maple Leafs (29-36-13), is almost single-handedly keeping Boston afloat. The league leader in goals-against average (1.99), Rask is 3-2-0 with a 1.26 GAA and two shutouts in his last six games.

"It's frustrating," Rask said of the lack of offensive support. "I hope it doesn't cost us too much at the end of the day."

The Bruins have failed to score a power-play goal in 11 of their last 12 games but have five in five meetings this season with Toronto. Mark Recchi has four of Boston's 17 goals in the season series.

Recchi's team is one of only four in the NHL with a losing record at home - it's 3-11-3 since Jan. 7 - but the Bruins have won three straight on the road and are 19-13-6 overall.

They've dropped both trips to Toronto, though, including a 4-3 loss March 9 when Nikolai Kulemin beat Tim Thomas with 50 seconds left in overtime.

Rask is 3-1-0 with a 2.01 GAA in four starts against the club that drafted him.

A former Bruins' first-round pick is leading Toronto in scoring, just as he did last season for Boston, but none of Phil Kessel's 30 goals have come against his old team.

Aside from needing points in the playoff race, the Bruins have extra incentive against the Maple Leafs. Boston owns Toronto's first-round picks in the next two drafts from the Kessel trade, and with only Edmonton owning a worse record than the Leafs, the 2010 pick will be right near the top.

Toronto, though, has made a late surge trying to avoid finishing in the Eastern basement. The Leafs are 9-3-1 over their last 13 and beat Buffalo 4-2 at home Thursday night - their first win in six tries against the Northeast Division-leading Sabres.

"It's a good thing to get off our back coming into next year," forward Viktor Stalberg said. "We want to show them what this team is going to be about the next couple years here."

The Leafs finished the season 0 for 19 on the power play versus Buffalo, and they're 0 for 17 against Boston.