May 21, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Boston Bruins left wing Daniel Paille (20) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal against the New York Rangers during the third period in game three of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Boston won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Anyone watching last night’s game got to see some vintage John Tortorella. Thankfully, he wasn’t mic’d up. Part of Tortorella’s frustration is that(at the moment) he and the Rangers have no real counter to Claude Julien’s four rolling line system. He expressed his frustration after the game. Thankfully, none of it had to be beeped out.

“We just didn’t spend enough time in their end zone,’’ said Tortorella. “We didn’t get enough forecheck. At times, we struggled to get through, and when we got through, we just didn’t sustain our forecheck. A team that’s rolling their lines they way they are, you need to have some time in their end zone. As the game went on, we were there less and less, so it mounts up on you.”

The Merlot Men came through for us again. When I first got into hockey, it was insinuated that the fourth line was for players who were skilled, but did not possess the elite level of skill most starters have. Well, that’s certainly not the case for the Bruins. In fact, it’s rare to see announcers call the trio of Daniel Paille, Gregory Campbell, and Shawn Thornton the “Bruins’ fourth line.” They’re the ‘Merlot Line’ or the ‘Energy Line’.

Bruins head coach Claude Julien was once again pleased with the performance of that trio. “They were working hard. They’ve scored some big goals for us in the playoffs. We have confidence in that line; we’ve said it a million times,” Julien said. “Tonight was no exception. We utilize them because they’re good, not because we have to.”

Daniel Paille earned the team’s ‘Star of the Game’ army jacket last night. He got an assist on Boychuk’s goal, and scored the game winner(and his second of the postseason) in the same period.  He appreciates the team and the coach not labeling his line with any particular number. “It’s a huge compliment to say that, and we’re truly flattered,” Paille said. “Soup[Campbell] and I and Thorty[Thornton], we realize what we need to do and we try to do it the best way we can. Some nights we’re going to play more minutes and some nights we’re not. We’ve accepted that, and that’s why we’ve learned to try to be as successful as we can be.”

With the Bruins 2-1 win last night, they now have a commanding 3-0 lead over the Rangers. To date, only three NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 deficit to advance. However, the Philadelphia Flyers overcame that very problem against the Bruins in 2010. Game four is tomorrow night in Madison Square Garden.

Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Beer:  Peak Organic, Summer Session – Portland, ME.  Not your typical summer beer, this one’s got that rye, almost bitterly sweet taste to it.  The right choice for an IPA drinker looking to go “light”.

Breakdown:  The B’s look strong, taking a 3-0 series lead against New York.  Organic seems to be the trend for them as they’ve stopped trying to force things like they were against Toronto.  Instead, they’re playing an aggressive, confident team game, determined to let their opportunities come to them and take advantage.  Case in point? The Merlot line was on the ice for both of Boston’s goals tonight.  While the Rangers defense was busy tracking the top three lines all night, it allowed these muckers to slide right in and help grind out a couple of timely scores.  Without the Bruins commitment to play a team game, a strategy where they just put the pedal to the medal and wait for the wear down, this series would have a very different tone.

The Bruins have gained a wealth of confidence since turning it on against the Leafs during desperate times.  It’s really starting to show against these Rangers.  While New York has the ability to turn it on and score some skilled goals at any point, the Bruins are taking them out of their element by controlling the play in the offensive and neutral zones.  Right before they scored in the second period, the Rangers were playing a desperate (in a bad way) style of hockey, with guys trying to overpower their way through 3 or 4 Bruins at a time.  As NBC analysts pointed out, that’s not the way for anyone to win a hockey game.

Tuukka Rask had a light night, facing just 24 shots.  Still, he made a few key saves earlier in the game which allowed Boston’s forwards to keep patient and continue plugging away.  Meanwhile, Henrik Lundqvist continues to play out of this world, making un-godly saves against some prime Bruins opportunities.  It looked for a while like he might steal one tonight, but the Rangers inability to crack the B’s defense… plus a funny bounce, proved to be the difference.  King Henrik will need to shut Boston out for New York to have any chance in Game 4.  The Bruins are starting to look allot like they did in 2011.

May 19, 2013; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk (55), defenseman Matt Bartkowski (43), center Patrice Bergeron (37) and center Brad Marchand (63) on the ice before the start of game two of the second round of the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New York Rangers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

With the news that Boston Bruins defensemen Dennis Seidenberg, Andrew Ference and Wade Redden are set to miss their 3rd straight game of the B’s 2nd round series versus the New York Rangers, it appears as though the Bruins roster will look exactly like it did in games one and two.

The trio of injured d-men for the Bruins make a tough task even tougher for the B’s and the way this team has rallied is incredible. With the emergence of three rookie blue-liners in Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski and Torey Krug, the B’s have hopped out to a 2-0 series lead and shown the type of organizational depth it takes to be a Stanley Cup contender every year. Certainly goaltender Tuukka Rask and captain Zdeno Chara have also picked up a good amount of the slack along with Johnny Boychuk and the 12 forwards, but the contributions these kids are making on defense are doing more than just raising an eyebrow or two.

Krug has been a revelation and now has goals in back-to-back games, his first two career playoff games for that matter and has shown the kind of puck handling and skating skills that the B’s have long since coveted for their blue-line corps. Bartkowski scored in the Bruins thrilling comeback game 7 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs and has just been solid in all three zones. Hamilton has thrown his weight around and hasn’t been as solid as the other two, but he’s 19-years old and has held his own.

[ LINK: Bruins' Young Defensemen Make Case To Stay In Lineup Once Veterans Heal ]

Tonight however will be one of their toughest challenges yet, for tonight they head into New York City to play in one of the oldest and greatest sport arenas in North America, Madison Square Garden. It will no doubt be a hostile environment, nothing like the support and cheers the kids received the last two games while playing in front of the hometown crowd.

The crowd will be even louder than normal tonight in NYC as their Rangers are down 0-2 and cannot afford to go down 0-3 to the Bruins. The crowd will be doing all it can to help their boys in Blue and if the B’s want any chance of coming out with a “W” tonight they’ll need their rookie d-men once again to act like grizzled veterans instead of the fresh faced kids they are.

So far they haven’t showed us they can’t handle the pressure of the NHL playoffs, so far they’ve excelled in it and will once again be asked to answer the call. They haven’t disappointed yet, they also haven’t played under the bright-lights of Madison Square Garden and in front of a crowd like only New York can produce (I mean that in the kindest way possible).

Hopefully they just heed the advice that Bruins head coach Claude Julien afforded Krug after his emergency call-up last week, “Don’t be afraid”.