After exhibiting some extreme streakiness in the first month of the season, the injury-addled Bruins have settled into a period of distinct mediocrity.

The B’s dropped the second half of their home-and-home with the Red Wings on Tuesday, dropping a 5-4 decision at Little Caesars Arena. Jeremy Swayman had recently been airtight,  but he did not cover up any warts in this one and got pulled in the third period.

Since their seven-game win streak, which had wiped out an earlier six-game skid, the B’s have now gone 4-6 in their last 10 and have not won two in a row in that span. They are clearly in a desperate, water-treading mode to remain in the hunt while they wait, wish and hope for some semblance of good health.

The Bruins found themselves chasing the game early on, falling down 2-0 in the first period.

They had actually started out pretty well, putting good pressure on in the Detroit zone. But the struggling John Gibson (.865 save percentage going into the game) turned aside all shots in the opening 20.

And when the B’s were pushing in the Wings’ zone, old friend James van Riemsdyk got behind Andrew Peeke on the left wing once Albert Johansson gained control of it in the Wings’ zone. Johansson lifted a long pass for van Riemsdyk and the big veteran winger moved in alone and beat Swayman to the high far side with a snap shot from just inside the dot at 6:25.

The game marked the return of Viktor Arvidsson, who had been out since Nov. 15 with a lower body injury. A little rustiness showed in the Wings’ second goal when the B’s were caught in their own zone. Arvidsson backed up deep into the low slot, allowing Moritz Seider plenty of time to release his shot that was greatly aided by Andrew Copp’s screen to put Detroit up by two at 13:49.

The B’s held a 10-7 shot advantage in the first, but it didn’t much matter.

It didn’t get any better early in the second, starting with the bad news that they had lost another defenseman. With Charlie McAvoy, Henri Jokiharju and Jordan Harris already out, Michael Callahan (lower body) could not finish the game and the B’s were down to five defensemen for the final 40.

The B’s quickly found themselves down 3-0 just 1:35 into the period when they mismanaged the puck in their zone. From the slot, Alex DeBrincat’s shot broke through Swayman’s arm and body and trickled in.

After a failed power play, the B’s finally got on the board at 11:09 of the second off some strong forechecking by Tanner Jeannot. The big winger beat two Wings behind the net and then a third one to get the puck out to Nikita Zadorov at the left point. He moved it to Jonathan Aspirot, whose right point shot beat Gibson short side for his first NHL goal.

That injected some life into the B’s and, at 15:38, they pulled within a goal. After some good offensive zone possession, Hampus Lindholm’s shot from the high slot produced a big rebound off Gibson’s pads and right to Alex Steeves, who potted his fourth of the season.

But less than a minute later, the Wings had a two-goal lead back. Just after Gibson made a strong save on Elias Lindholm, Detroit transitioned quickly up the ice. Defenseman Ben Chiarot had beaten Morgan Geekie up the ice in time to take a feed from Dylan Larkin and beat Swayman with a wrist shot from the high danger area at 16:15 to make it 4-2 heading into the third.

The B’s flurried early in the third and Gibson came up with a good stop on a Geekie one-timer. But after Hampus Lindholm was called for holding, the Wings took a commanding three-goal lead again with a Lucas Raymond power-play goal at 3:55.

That ended the night for Swayman, who gave way to Joonas Korpisalo. It also might as well have ended any hope for a Bruin comeback.

The B’s had to finish the final 12:13 with four defenseman after Nikita Zadorov got 14 minutes in penalties – a roughing double minor and a 10-minute misconduct – for his part in a dust-up with Seider and a few other Wings.

The B’s did keep playing, however. Korpisalo made a handful of excellent saves and Marat Khusnutdinov got it back to within two when he redirected Hampus Lindholm’s pass for his fourth with 5:03 left.

The B’s pulled Korpisalo for the extra skater with over three minutes left but could not score until there were 11.2 seconds left when Steeves scored his second of the game. That’s as close as they could get.

Loose pucks

David Pastrnak, who had appeared to suffer some sort of lower body injury late in the B’s win on Long Island on Thanksgiving Eve, will not skate the rest of the week, according to coach Marco Sturm. Whether he can make the road trip next week that takes the B’s to St. Louis, Winnipeg and Minnesota remains to be seen.

Sturm said he wants to see Pastrnak get a few skates in before he gets back into the lineup.

“We’ve got to be careful with him,” said Sturm. … The Boston Fleet announced they will be playing the Montreal Victoire at TD Garden on April 11 (7 p.m.). It will be the second half of a hockey doubleheader. The B’s host the Tampa Bay Lightning at 12:30 p.m. in what could be a very big game for their playoff hopes.