TORONTO — Brad Marchand scored the go-ahead goal and Tuukka Rask stopped 31 shots as the Boston Bruins rolled over the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 to seize a commanding 3-1 playoff series lead.

Jake DeBrusk and Torey Krug also scored in the win on Thursday night for the Bruins who were missing star center Patrice Bergeron with an undisclosed injury.

David Pastrnak tallied two assists in front of the crowd of 19,600 at the Air Canada Centre arena in Toronto.

“Early on, they were better,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “Then we finally found our legs and started managing the puck better, got stronger, we came on and scored.”

Boston can wrap up the first round Eastern Conference series with a victory in game five on Saturday at the Boston Garden.

Tomas Plekanec scored once and goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 18 shots for Toronto, who were coming off a 4-2 win in game three at home.

Bergeron had been a key element on the top line that dominated in the first two games of the series which the Bruins won 5-1 and 7-3. But he was a surprise late scratch Thursday and the Bruins declined to give details about the injury.

He was replaced on the top line between Marchand and Pastrnak by Riley Nash, who finished with one shot on goal in 19:10 minutes of playing time.

Krug silenced the Maple Leaf crowd with the opening goal just 28 seconds into the contest. His snapshot from the side boards deflected off Andersen’s shoulder into the net.

After Marchand scored in the second, Boston made it 3-1 at 4:17 of the third. DeBrusk finished off a two-on one after taking a perfectly placed pass from David Krejci. Both Andersen, and the lone defenseman back, Roman Polak, looked helpless on the nice passing play.

Kuznetsov, Caps pull

Even with Blue Jackets

Evgeny Kuznetsov finished with a goal and two assists while Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson each had a goal and one assist as the visiting Washington Capitals defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 in Game 4 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The Capitals evened the series at 2-2 after losing the first two games in overtime at Washington. The series shifts back to Washington for Game 5 Saturday afternoon.

The visiting team has won all four games.

The Capitals got goals from Wilson in the first period, T.J. Oshie in the second and Ovechkin and Kuznetsov in the third.

Goalie Braden Holtby made his second consecutive start after Philipp Grubauer started the first two games. Holtby again gave Washington a solid performance, making 23 saves.

Holtby said, according to the Washington Post, “There was no other option (than winning both games in Columbus). Our goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and that’s what we viewed as our best chance after losing the first two. We’ve been a confident group all year — I think that’s been our strongest asset — so I don’t think we’ve ever doubted ourselves.”

The Capitals helped Holtby by playing consistent defense throughout, much better than in the first three games and especially in five-on-five situations. Washington blocked 20 shots, and Columbus was not able to find as many scoring chances as it did in Games 1, 2 and 3.

That is a big reason why Washington held a 33-24 edge in shots and controlled the pace of play.

“We weren’t good. There’s no sense asking me things about the game,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said. “I’m telling you, we laid an egg, so I’m not going to break it down for you. We sucked. We sucked. So let’s move by it and see if we play better Saturday afternoon.”

The Capitals scored the first goal for the fourth consecutive game. Wilson got it at 6:16 of the first period by ripping a shot past Columbus goalie Sergei Bobrovsky from near the blue line after Washington nearly scored moments before.

Oshie made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 9:19 of the second period after shots from John Carlson and Ovechkin. Oshie grabbed the rebound of the Ovechkin shot and put it away from in front.

Carlson, a defenseman, has seven assists in the first four games of the series.

Ovechkin scored at 2:49 of the third period from the right side to extend Washington’s lead to 3-0.

Boone Jenner scored for the Blue Jackets 6:22 into the third, cutting the deficit to 3-1, before Kuznetsov struck for an empty-net goal with 2:19 left. — Reuters