3 least impressive Boston Bruins players from 4-3 loss to Washington Capitals feat. Elias Lindholm 

The sorry refrain continued for the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at TD Garden, as they dropped a 4-3 final score to the visiting Washington Capitals. In doing so, they suffered their ninth consecutive defeat and have now dropped into last place in the Eastern Conference thanks to the Buffalo Sabres' win.

The Capitals scored twice in the first period thanks to Nic Dowd and Alex Ovechkin; the latter is now just three tallies away from tying Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time goal scoring leader.

The Bruins managed to knot the score in the game's middle frame after goals from Vinni Letieri and David Pastrnak; their goals were their third and 36th of the season, respectively.

However, Washington restored their two-goal lead thanks to tallies from Dylan Strome and Tom Wilson. While Pastrnak scored his second of the night to cut the lead back to one, Boston proved unable to come up with the equalizer.

3 least impressive Boston Bruins players from 4-3 loss to Washington Capitals

#1. Elias Lindholm

This campaign has been one to forget for the first-year Bruins forward, who agreed to join Boston during the offseason when he was given a seven-year contract with a considerable $7.75 million cap hit.

He finished tied for a team-worst -3 rating as part of the loss against the Capitals, getting caught out of position multiple times. He contributed zero points and managed only a single shot on goal while skating in 16:59 of ice time.

His offense dipped last season split between the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks, and the hope of Bruins management that he'd rediscover his scoring touch with Boston has gone unfulfilled so far.

#2. Casey Mittelstadt

The forward that the Bruins received in return from the Colorado Avalanche in the deal that sent Charlie Coyle to the Rocky Mountains, Mittelstadt failed to make an impact for Boston against the Capitals.

Not only did he fail to appear on the scoresheet, but he also failed to register a single shot on goal while playing in 19:05 of ice time.

The Bruins need more from players like Mittelstadt to break out of their current prolonged losing skid that has all but officially sealed their fate of missing the playoffs, and they didn't get it on Tuesday night.

#3. Jakub Lauko

Viewed as a defensive-minded forward, Lauko's performance against the Capitals on Tuesday was lacking.

He finished the game with a -2 rating in just 12:50 of ice time, which was the second-lowest among all Bruins forwards. That the Capitals scored twice in the short time that he was on the ice isn't an encouraging look for him.

The Boston Bruins will look to end their losing streak when they face the Montreal Canadiens next at Centre Bell on Thursday.