Milan Lucic has his sights set on the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference finals. (AP)

Now, the road gets a lot tougher.

The Bruins enter the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins as decided underdogs. The Bruins might have the better goalie in Tuukka Rask and may have won the Cup more recently (2011) than the Penguins (2009). But the Penguins have their version of the “Big 3″ in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jarome Iginla, reminding one player on the Bruins of a powerhouse in the NBA.

“Well, no doubt they’re a great hockey club,” Milan Lucic said after Saturday’s series-clinching 3-1 win over the Rangers at TD Garden. “In my mind, they’re almost like the Miami Heat of the NHL with all the star power they got. Probably the two best players in the world and a 40-goal scorer and the former 50-goal scorer, a future hall of famer and a Norris Trophy candidate on their team.

“So, they definitely have a lot of weapons and in saying all that, I think what makes them successful is they play real well as a team and I think that’s what you’re going to probably see going into this next series, is two well-rounded teams going at it and for us we’ve got to be ready and excited for the challenge.”

Lucic and the Bruins proved they can beat at least one NHL superstar in the playoffs by dispatching of Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers in five games.

“It was big for us,” Lucic said. “I think the mindset in this room was that we didn’t want to be denied and we knew that he was going to be the best player on their team, and he was in this series for them and he kept a couple of games closer. He stopped me four good times here tonight, but he’s a great goaltender for a reason and he played well and like I said we did whatever we could to try to get to him and we were able to do that.”

What will be the key to beating the Penguins?

“We just got to play a strong team game and play to our strengths,” Lucic said. “We’re a team that plays in your face type of hockey and I think what worked for us this series was we were able to establish our forecheck and we got to keep doing that and they’re a team that you don’t want to turn the puck over against because they have more than enough weapons to make you pay for it. So, puck management is going to be huge for us, and in saying all that, I think tonight and tomorrow we need to enjoy what we accomplished so far in the playoffs.”

Claude Julien wanted no part of talking about Pittsburgh preferring to bask in the glow of eliminating the Rangers, reflecting the mood of most inside the Bruins dressing room not named Milan Lucic.

“I’m not going to talk about the Penguins tonight, we just finished against the Rangers. I’ll stick to that, if you don’t mind,” Julien said.

John Tortorella has no such problems giving his opinion about Boston’s chances.

“I think Boston has a really good chance,” Tortorella said. “I think Claude and that staff has done a heck of a job with their club. I can’t believe some of the people, how they second-guess him, just being in the city for a few days, and the type of job he’s done here. That’s a good team. They’re very well-coached, and they’re seasoned. They’ve been through it before, and I give them a lot of credit, as far as what they’ve done with their club. They’re a good hockey team.”

Following the Bruins’ Game 5 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference finals, Rangers coach John Tortorella said that the Bruins deserved the bid to advance more than the Rangers.

“They deserved to win,” Tortorella said . “They were the better team. They deserved to win.”

Tortorella, who has been something of a polarizing figure throughout the series and could be on the hot seat, praised Bruins’ coach Claude Julien, adding that he “can’t believe” that the coach is second-guessed by the local or national media.

Up next for the Bruins are the Penguins, with Tortorella saying “Boston has a really good chance.”

For more on the Bruins, visit weei.com/bruins.

The Bruins advanced to the Eastern Conference finals Saturday night, handing the Rangers a 3-1 loss and eliminating them in five games. Up next for the B’s are the Penguins, who knocked out the Senators on Friday.

The Rangers took the lead in the first period on a power play goal from Dan Girardi, but Torey Krug struck again early in the second period with a power play goal of his own. It was the fourth goal for Krug this postseason, and with it he became the first rookie defenseman in NHL history to score four goals in his first five career playoff games. Campbell made it 2-1 just under 10 minutes later, knocking in a a rush that was orchestrated by Daniel Paille, and added an empty-netter with 50.4 seconds remaining in regulation to seal the deal.

Tuukka Rask made 28 saves in the victory, which also saw the return of Dennis Seidenberg from a lower-body injury.

WHAT WENT RIGHT FOR THE BRUINS

- Tuukka Rask made the save of the series when he stopped Ryan Callahan on a breakaway with under 11:30 to go in regulation. Rask made a right pad save to get deflect the puck out of play after Callahan took a long pass through the neutral zone and raced to the net.

- Who would have thought Torey Krug and not Jaromir Jagr would be the Bruins’ most meaningful addition this season? Krug led the Bruins in goals in the first round and, as mentioned above, is the first rookie defensemen in NHL history to score four goals in his first five playoff games.

- The members of the Merlot Line should change their practice jerseys to green, because they’ve been money. They were difference-makers on the scoreboard in two of Boston’s four wins this round, but they’re usually difference-makers anyway. Paille picked off a Roman Hamrlik pass in the neutral zone to start the rush on which they scored, with Campbell burying the rebound of Thornton’s bid.

- Give Milan Lucic credit for a monster of a backcheck late in the first period with Dorsett giving chase to a puck through the neutral zone and into the Bruins’ zone. Johnny Boychuk had pinched earlier in the play, so Lucic had to race back to turn on the jets and whack at Dorsett’s stick to break up what would have been a partial breakaway and a big scoring chance that would have given the Rangers the opportunity to take a 2-0 lead into the second period. Lucic had a strong performance in Game 5 otherwise, getting scoring chances and keeping his feet moving as he continued his postseason renaissance.

WHAT WENT WRONG FOR THE BRUINS

- The Bruins took advantage of the Rangers’ weak power play by keeping them without a goal on New York’s first 12 power plays of the series, but from the third period Thursday though the first period Saturday they allowed a pair of goals over a span of three penalties. They’ve been pretty big goals — the game-tying tally in Game 4 and the first of the game in Game 5.

- Jaromir Jagr is just mega snakebite. Among the multiple opportunities Saturday that didn’t make their way to back of the net was a rebound that Jagr fired high glove-side on a third-period power play that was snagged by Lundqvist. Jagr still has no goals this postseason.