Shots, shots, and more shots, but they’re not adding up to anything for the Bruins.

The dog days of December — early onset frustration — continued for the Black and Gold Saturday night at TD Garden, where they again never held a lead, fell behind by two goals in the middle period, and scuffled along to a 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs.

After building a 2-1 lead in the second, the Leafs put it away midway through the third when ex-UNH star James van Riemsdyk popped home his 12th goal this season for an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

“Some of them, we don’t get to them,’’ noted Bruins alternate captain Patrice Bergeron, musing over his club’s continued inability to turn loose pucks into good chances or goals. “Others, we fail to put them in. So I think [the reason for not scoring] is a little bit of both.’’

The Bruins, who fell to a mediocre 7-7-0 on home ice (15-12-2 overall), now have gone three straight games (0-2-1) without holding a lead. December, the gift-giving season, has found them to be all too charitable.

They fell into a 3-0 hole Wednesday in D.C. They again gave up the first three goals the next night to the Avalanche.

After a strong first period vs. the Leafs, they gave up the first two again (Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman strikes) before finally striking back with a Brad Marchand goal (No. 8) with 1:21 to go before the second intermission.

“Today we were are down, 2-0, again and we have to start playing catch-up,’’ said Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask, beaten three times on the Leafs’s first 16 shots. “We try to score that first goal and play with a lead, but . . . we give up two or there goals and we’re playing catch-up. That’s not easy. It takes a lot out of you.’’

Only 20 seconds prior to van Riemsdyk’s backbreaking goal, Bruins rookie Austin Czarnik squandered a perfect setup for the tying goal on a pass from Dominic Moore. Parked alone at the top of the crease, Czarnik was turned back by goalie Frederik Andersen on his forehand mash attempt.

It was, yet again, Exhibit A of the Bruins turning plenty ­into nothing.

Had Czarnik converted, for what would have been his first goal since Nov. 10, the Bruins would have had it knotted with 10:30 remaining in regulation. Instead, the play turned up ice and Tyler Bozak deliver the nifty blind pass toward the net that van Riemsdyk tipped over Rask’s glove. Lights out.

Connor Brown knocked in an empty-netter for the 4-1 final.

“I need to bear down,’’ said a disappointed Czarnik, who, like most of his teammates, can’t buy a goal of late. “That’s unacceptable at this level.’’

The Bruins came perilously close to falling into a 3-0 deficit for a third straight game. After dominating the first period with an 11-2 shot lead, but again going scoreless, they watched the Leafs score the two goals before the Marchand goal.

It was Matthews, the US-born rookie sensation, who started the Toronto scoring, sniping in a short-range wrister from the slot after linemate William Nylander threaded a perfect feed off the right wing at 1:44. It was only the fourth Leaf shot of the night, but they had the 1-0 lead.

Like many nights of late, the Bruins, despite putting up a decent number of shots (a 33-20 final advantage), again just could not mount sustained pressure in the attack zone. True Andersen was busier than Rask, but most of Boston’s offerings were cupcake stops. Loose pucks, when Andersen allowed them, were not turned into meaningful chances.

The Leafs doubled their lead at 15:14 when Hyman, parked low in the slot, tipped home a 55-foot wrister off the left point from Jake Gardiner.

Rask appeared to have the shot in his sights, but Hyman lifted his stick to waist level and provided the change of direction. Leafs, 2-0.

Finally, with only 1:21 to go before the break, Marchand cut the lead in half with his eighth goal of the season. Andersen, attempting to push a pass along the boards from behind his cage, watched the L’il Ball o’Hate pick it off and then push in a backhander near the left post after circling out from behind the net.

The Bruins have not led in a game since Dec. 5, when David Backes popped in a goal at 13:08 of the third for a lead over the Panthers that held up for just over five minutes.

They now have gone three-plus games, including the OT Wednesday in Washington, playing without the safety net of even a one-goal lead.

“It seems like every game we are outchancing teams,’’ said coach Claude Julien, his club outscored, 12-6, over the last three games (0-2-1). “But we don’t outscore teams and that is our biggest issue right now. The scoring is not there, and if you don’t score goals, you don’t win hockey games.’’

Even worse, the lack of scoring means the Bruins don’t even have a chance of winning. It’s only one-third of the way into the season and the dog days of December have the Bruins with their goal-scoring touch in a deep freeze.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.