General manager Peter Chiarelli knows his team is having some problems, but he appears willing to wait to see what happens when the Bruins' injured players are back before thinking of changes.

"I still have confidence in this team," Chiarelli told the Boston Globe in a story published Thursday. "Certainly, the last game (a 4-1 loss to the Islanders) was disappointing. And the game before (in Pittsburgh) was looser than I would have liked. Monday, I don't know what happened there ... we just died on the vine."

Thursday night in Atlanta, the Bruins got Milan Lucic back after a 14-game absence caused by a broken finger. Marc Savard, who has missed the last 14 with a broken foot, is on the four-game road trip and skating, a sign he'll be back soon.

The Bruins opened the road trip with a shootout win in Atlanta, snapping a three-game losing streak, and head into Buffalo on Friday night looking for only their second two-game winning streak of the season.

"It's like most teams, we need our better and best players to play like our better and best players," said Chiarelli. "When those other guys are back -- and that looks imminent -- then we'll assess it when everyone is plugged into their positions and roles that we expect of them."

BRUINS 4, THRASHERS 3 (SO): OK, it wasn't perfect, but it was a win, a big road win for a struggling team.

The Bruins blew leads of 2-0 and 3-2 and were guilty of seven minor penalties in Atlanta. They allowed the tying goal in the final minute but then got perfect shootout goaltending from Tuukka Rask and the only goal of the shootout from Patrice Bergeron to snap a three-game losing streak.

"I think everybody played a pretty solid game tonight," said Bruins coach Claude Julien. "Our best players were our best players, our penalty kill (6-for-7) was outstanding again tonight. They did a great job."

Michael Ryder scored two goals and Marco Sturm one for the Bruins, who rode Rask for the second straight game, with Tim Thomas out with an undisclosed injury.

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