After taking a one-goal lead in the first period, the Bruins simply stopped playing and lost to the St. Louis Blues, 3-2, in overtime.

Brayden Schenn scored at 2:53 of OT on a wrist shot from the left circle for winner at the Garden on Saturday.

It was a well deserved L for the B’s, who managed 17 shots and minimal offensive zone team against a so-so at best Blues team.

The first period felt like a rerun of a lot of periods lately. The B’s got an early power play, they actually moved the puck OK (David Pastrnak hit a post) and they didn’t score.

Then, the Blues took the lead at 6:25, on a Radek Faksa deflection of a Scott Perunovich shot and the B’s were chasing the game yet again.

But it didn’t take long for the B’s to flip the score, thanks to a pair of goals from St. Louis boy Trent Frederic, who has been stone cold all season but came to life against his hometown team for his second and third goals of the season.

After Joonas Korpisalo made two circus saves on Schenn to keep it a one-goal deficit, the B’s tied it up at 9:34. Georgii Merkulov was one or two players brought up from Providence (Riley Tufte was the other) and he picked up his first NHL point on the equalizer.

Merkulov, at the right side of the crease, made a nice redirection of a Charlie McAvoy pass on net. Jordan Binnington made a good pad save, but the rebound went right to Frederic at the top of the crease for the put-back.

It was Frederic’s first goal since the season opener.

Then at 12:12, a loose puck squirted out to a changing-on Mason Lohrei and he leaned into a slapper that Frederic tipped past Binnington.

But as has been a pattern for this Bruins’ team, they could not put the hammer down on an opponents. They played a dreadful second period and, if not for the capricious enforcement of goalie interference, they would have been tied going into the third period.

The Blues outshot the B’s 9-4, enjoyed an even greater territorial advantage and had a goal called back midway through the period. Oskar Sundqvist popped home a rebound off the end boards but it was immediately waved off for goalie interference. It was ruled Sundqvist had made enough contact with Korpisalo when he spun in the crease for the goal to come off the board.

The B’s continued to stand still in their own zone, so badly that with 6:17 remaining in the period, coach Jim Montgomery used his timeout. They managed to survive the period, but it didn’t fill anyone with much confidence going into the third period.

The B’s also lost Mark Kastelic early in the second period due to a lower body injury.

And at 9:18, the inevitable tying goal happened. The B’s lost several board before Radek Faksa was able to send a centering pass from behind the net out front to an open Nathan Walker, who snapped home the equalizer from the slot.