The Boston Bruins’ 4-3 win at Washington in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Monday night probably looked familiar.

That’s because the Bruins’ gutsy win had a lot of the hallmarks from the Stanley Cup winning run of last year. Boston now holds a 2-1 lead in the series heading into Thursday’s Game 4.

The Bruins showed mental toughness in coming back from two one-goal deficits on Monday and then delivered the game winner in the final 2:00 after allowing the Capitals to tie the game at 3-3.

Another key from last season was the contributions of role players and Boston got that in abundance on Monday as Rich Peverley, Daniel Paille and veteran Brian Rolston all scored.

“The biggest thing on this team is that everybody contributes,” Rolston told NHL Network. “We have great depth, so I don’t feel too much pressure. You want to go out and play a solid game every night and we have a great team game.”

The Bruins’ big players also came up big last year and that was the case Monday as well. A big player (literally, in this case) came up with the game-changing play when it mattered as Boston captain Zdeno Chara scored the game-winning goal with 1:53 remaining in the game.

It’s early yet and the Capitals won’t be laying down any time soon. But that the Bruins are showing the traits that made them champions a year ago should be taken as a good sign.

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THE MANCHESTER MONARCHS opted to travel to Norfolk early to get settled in for Games 1 and 2 of their AHL first-round playoff series with the top-ranked and white-hot Admirals. Manchester left late Tuesday night for Virginia.

The Monarchs fought their way into the playoffs with three wins last weekend to finish in the eighth and final spot. Their reward was getting to play a Norfolk team that has won an AHL-record 28 straight games.

But the Monarchs battled so much all season that another battle isn’t likely to faze them. Manchester had to persevere through injuries all season, call-ups to Los Angeles of key players and scorers and having the youngest roster in the league.

The way that Manchester got in, winning those final three games to secure a spot and not having to scoreboard watch and wait for help, left the team feeling good.

“It’s really rewarding,” said defenseman Andrew Campbell. “We have such a young group and we really showed a lot of team character pulling together (last) weekend. The last month we’ve won a lot of playoff-kind hockey, hard-grinding games. It really shows how much guys care about the team.”

Game 1 is Friday in Norfolk (7:30) and Game 2 is Saturday (7:15). The best-of-five series then would conclude in Manchester with Game 3 next Wednesday at Verizon Wireless Arena (7 p.m.). If needed, Games 4 and 5 would be in Manchester Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28.

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FORMER MONARCH Brian Boyle is having himself a playoff series. The New York Rangers forward has three goals in three games, with two game-winners (including the only goal in Game 3), to lead the No. 1 Rangers to a 2-1 lead over No. 8 Ottawa.

Boyle’s goals coupled with his usual brand of physical play have drawn the ire of the Senators faithful. Targeted not only by the fans, the Senators themselves have placed a bullseye on Boyle’s jersey that is only getting bigger with each goal he scores and hit he dishes out.

“My confidence with the puck has been better lately,” Boyle said. “Holding onto it and trying to make some plays. The game has slowed down just a little bit. It speeds up in the playoffs. They’re trying to finish me (with checks) and finish all of us as much as they can so it gets a little tougher.”

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FORMER UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE standout Bobby Butler got his first taste of NHL playoff hockey Monday night when he was inserted into the Ottawa lineup for injured captain Daniel Alfredsson.

Butler saw significant ice time, logging more than 14:00, including some power-play time. He fired five shots on net and played a solid game all around. Butler was with Binghamton in the AHL last season when those Senators eliminated the Monarchs in the first round and went on to win the Calder Cup.

Ian Clark covers pro hockey for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His e-mail address is iclark@unionleader.com.