Bruins eliminate Rangers in five games thanks to Torey Krug, ‘Merlot Line’

The door opened for Torey Krug thanks to injuries to the Boston Bruins' defense corps and it's going to be impossible for head coach Claude Julien to take him out of the lineup now. Krug scored his third power play goal of the series to open the scoring in for the Bruins and Gregory Campbell broke the tie 10 minutes later as Boston eliminated the New York Rangers Saturday night in five games with a 3-1 victory.

Joining Krug on the unsung heroes list for the Bruins were Shawn Thornton, Gregory Campbell and Daniel Paille, better known as the "Merlot Line" for the jersey color they wear at practice. The trio that makeup the Bruins' fourth line contributed to what ended up as the winning goal 13:41 into the second period when Rangers defenseman Roman Hamrlik had two turnovers in a matter of moments, leading to Campbell pouncing on a look puck in front of Henrik Lundqvist:

"We learned two years ago that depth comes into play," Campbell told NBC Sport Network's Brian Engblom afterward. "And the further you go into the playoffs, the better the teams are and the higher the level the teams, the more you have to rely on everybody."

Campbell would add his second of the night with an empty net tally with 51 seconds to go in the game.

Ten points from the fourth line. Four goals from a rookie defenseman. Contributions from everyone. That's why the Bruins are set to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Final beginning sometime next week.

Now, after the trade deadline when both teams made moves to improve their rosters, we have the Conference Final many expected.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy