“They were going to pinch and put a lot of pressure on us,’’ said Julien. “We had to be strong along the boards and we needed to get pucks in deep. This was their third game in four nights. We had to make them work for what they were going to get.’’

As Julien expected, the Leafs barreled off the bench to start the third. Despite his reminders, the Bruins wobbled under Toronto’s pressure. On the opening shift, Jason Blake blew through Marc Savard and Blake Wheeler and gave the puck to Tomas Kaberle, who ripped a shot wide of the goal. As the puck rimmed around the wall, Blake ran over Daniel Paille to keep the puck in the Boston zone. Andrew Ference, trying to reverse the puck to Dennis Wideman, instead gave it away behind the net to Niklas Hagman, who fed Mikhail Grabovski for Toronto’s first goal a mere 18 ticks into the period.

Then at 4:09, Nikolai Kulemin made it a one-goal game. That’s when Julien saw enough and called his timeout.

“We all saw that coming,’’ Zdeno Chara said of the breather. “Obviously, he’s an experienced coach, so when he called time out, it was time. We knew what we needed - a rebirth and getting back to our game.’’

Julien’s timeout worked. There was no screaming or rehashing of strategy, just a brake applied to Toronto’s momentum.

“It was about settling them down and making sure we didn’t panic,’’ said Julien.

In the first period, the reigning Coach of the Year made a call that helped create the opening goal. At 7:58, Toronto’s fourth line iced the puck, setting up a faceoff in the Leafs’ zone. Julien’s fourth line had been on the ice for less than 30 seconds. But Julien replaced his fourth-liners with his No. 1 line of Paille, Savard, and Wheeler. Savard won the draw cleanly against Jamal Mayers to Paille. The left wing shuttled the puck to Johnny Boychuk at the left point, who in turn gave it to Mark Stuart in the middle. Stuart buzzed a one-timer that beat Vesa Toskala five-hole at 8:01 of the first.

“Those plays only work when our centers win the faceoff,’’ Stuart said of the set play, which put him in the right position to open up for the one-timer. “Savvy did a great job.’’

Wideman had missed three games earlier this season because of a shoulder injury. Wideman recorded three shots, three blocked shots, and one hit in 23:35 of ice time last night.

Bergeron was not invited to Team Canada’s orientation camp in August. But Steve Yzerman, the team’s executive director, has informed Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli that Bergeron is still in the mix for one of the 23 spots. During the 2005 World Junior Championship, Bergeron struck gold while centering Canada’s No. 1 line between Sidney Crosby and Corey Perry. Bergeron has also skated at right wing during international play.

“In my mind, he certainly deserves consideration,’’ said Julien, who was a Team Canada assistant during the 2006 World Championship. “I’m leaving it at that because the decision is still for the coaches on the Olympic team and whatever they want to do with their team. You have to respect that part of it.

“I know how tough it is. I’ve been there. But when you look at the way he’s played, there’s no doubt in my mind he should be considered.’’

Tuukka Rask (9-2-2, 1.97 goals-against average, .932 save percentage) has performed well enough to enter Team Finland’s mix. But because of Finland’s depth in goal (Miikka Kiprusoff, Niklas Backstrom, Pekka Rinne, Antero Niittymaki), Rask is currently part of a contingency plan in case of injury.

Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fshinzawa@globe.com.