Without Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, the Bruins went into Florida and took Game 3 and Game 4 from the Panthers, bringing a 3-1 series lead back to Boston for Wednesday’s Game 5.

A testament to the Bruins depth.

"Throughout the entire year, we've had different guys step up at different times and throughout the past two games,” Brandon Carlo said.

“I think we're just trying to keep the same mentality as we have the entire year, next man up mentality. It's working well for us and not getting too overexcited or down or buying into those things. Just focusing on the mission.”

The Bruins two best performances of the series have come in each of their last two games following an ugly Game 2 showing.

David Krejci is not expected to play in Game 5, Bergeron however, is. The Bruins have shown, for this series at least, they have enough weapons behind Bergeron and Krejci to get the job done.

Sunday’s Game 4 was the most physical the series has provided. Charlie McAvoy was a force, seemingly hitting everything in sight while Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk was handing out crosschecks and punches like it was candy on Halloween.

After Tkachuk’s crosscheck to the back of Garnet Hathaway wasn’t enough mischief for one night, with the game well out of hand, Tkachuk decided to push some more buttons, exchanging swings with goalie Linus Ullmark.

This may not surprise you; the Bruins did not approve of this.

"Everyone stuck up for each other. That's what we do," said Tyler Bertuzzi who scored his second goal of the series in the 6- victory. "We try to stay out of it between the whistles, but that was one of those things where we stuck up for each other."

Since the Bruins puck management disaster in Game 2, arguably their ugliest performance of the season, the Bruins have gone back to what has made them successful this season.

Games 3 and 4 were two more performances of timely saves, clutch goal scoring and stout defense. Oh, and check this out: the Bruins have scored a power play goal in three of four against the Panthers, four goals in total.

Different Bruins have stepped up at different times to propel the Bruins to their series lead. Tomas Nosek was outstanding at the faceoff dot in Game 4, winning 14 of his 18 faceoffs.

Returning from injury, Taylor Hall has been outstanding, leading the Bruins in playoff goals with four and points with seven.

“Watching him come back from being out for a while and seeing how fast he accelerates; I was in awe tonight,” Hathaway said.

And then there’s Tyler Bertuzzi who in his first playoff series has been all over the ice, making things happen in all three zones.

The Bruins have put themselves in a good position both depth wise and series wise.

Still, the Bruins will welcome the returns of Bergeron and Krejci.

Whenever that may be.

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