The Penguins had a job to do.

Even if their general manager quit his job.

On Thursday morning, they were still trying to shake off the stupor from Jim Rutherford abruptly stepping away from a thoroughly successful tenure with the organization.

There was still a little bit of shock lingering, not even 24 hours removed from Rutherford’s resignation. But they realized they couldn’t let that distract them from the task at hand, a road contest against the Boston Bruins in TD Garden.

“I think he’s the best general manager in hockey,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Rutherford, a man he considers a close friend. “But obviously, he made a decision he thinks is best for him and his family. Our positions here don’t change. We’re going to do our very best to put this team in the very best possible position to win.”

Limited to 17 shots, the Penguins were nowhere close to that position as the Bruins defeated them 4-1. It was the Penguins’ 10th consecutive loss in Boston, a streak dating to 2015.

“We all know we have a great team. We have great players,” Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin said. “We see Boston, they (are) faster, they (are) hungry, and they win every battle in the corner. We need to look in the mirror. Fight every shift. It’s not a pretty game right now.

”We need to play simple and we need to just work, work, work.”

The Bruins followed that ethos as they claimed a 1-0 lead 6:10 into regulation. Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk beat Penguins forward Jake Guentzel to a loose puck on the Penguins’ left wall and fired it on net. Penguins defenseman Kevin Czucman blocked the shot but allowed a turnover to the slot where Bruins forward Chris Wagner whacked a forehand shot past goaltender Tristan Jarry’s blocker for his first goal of the season.

An unlikely source scored the Penguins’ first goal at 15:03 of the first when defenseman Cody Ceci snapped a wrister past goaltender Jaroslav Halak’s blocker. It was Ceci’s first score of the season and first as a member of the Penguins.

After that, the Penguins rarely looked like a threat to score as they offered a mostly disjointed effort for most of the contest.

“(The Bruins) won most of the puck battles, one-on-one battles, got to pucks along the wall,” forward Teddy Blueger said. “That ended up being the difference. That’s something we need more of, is to just be harder to play against. (Be) a little more physical and work together instead of trying to play too much individually.”

The Bruins continued to look like the far more cohesive unit as they regained the lead at 18:53 of the first. A pass attempt by Bruins forward Ander Bjork from the left circle glanced off of the left ankle of Bruins forward Sean Kuraly, positioned above the crease, and deflected behind Jarry for Kuraly’s first goal.

Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored at 8:13 of the second and on a power-play chance at 1:40 of the third to cap the scoring, his fourth and fifth scores of the season, respectively.

Jarry made 16 saves in the defeat while the 17 shots the Penguins recorded were a season-low.

Malkin had two shots but was held without a point. With only three points (one goal, two assists) in eight games, his struggles have been an allegory of sorts for the Penguins.

He was frank about his malfunctions after the game.

”I need to look at myself (in) the mirror,” Malkin said. “I need to find my body, I need to find myself. I have to help the team for sure. I understand that. I’m not happy with my game for sure right now. It’s just come to the rink every day and work and fight every shift.”

Sullivan offered a similar assessment for his entire team and the job it is doing.

“We’ve got to play the game the right way,” Sullivan said. “That’s what I think. We’ve got to defend when it’s called upon and not just try to outscore teams. You’ve got to be harder to play against if we’re going to find success consistently. And we weren’t hard to play against tonight.”

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