The Bruins are four wins away from something big that just might make the city of Boston crazy.  

They are just four victories away from giving Toronto even more for Tomas Kaberle. 

That’s right, if the Bruins are able to defeat the Lightning in the Eastern Conference finals (whenever the series is actually played), they will advance to the Stanley Cup finals and send their 2012 second round pick (which had been worked into Feburary’s trade under the condition that the B’s either re-sign the defenseman or reach the finals) to Toronto. It’s an exchange Bruins fans would gladly take if it means the B’s end up playing for the Cup, but it also brings into focus just what the team gave up to get him. 

Yet if you think the Bruins gave up a lot in the trade for Kaberle – Joe Colborne, Boston’s 2011 first-round pick and that conditional second-rounder – just think of what this marriage has cost Kaberle given his inability to be a difference-maker. It seems the free-agent-to-be is still getting comfortable playing for the second team of his 12-year NHL career. He’s certainly had his struggles, and for a guy who one could have figured might command something like $4 million annually on the open market, it’s clear his price tag has definitely gotten lower. In the last two games of the Bruins' sweep of the Flyers, he played 13:20 and 13:15 in Games 3 and 4, respectively, which were his two lowest totals since January of 2007. In Game 4, he had only three shifts in the third period.

It’s been nearly three months since the Bruins acquired Kaberle, and through his ups and downs, he has yet to truly be the asset the Bruins thought they were getting when they sent that package of pick(s) and a prospect to Toronto. That could change when this series begins. 

As poor as some of Kaberle’s game has been in some areas – skating, keeping the puck in the zone, shooting when the opportunity presents itself – the puck-moving defenseman’s passes have been pretty. With what the B’s are facing in Lightning, those passes may come in handy.

Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher and his 1-3-1 neutral zone system have made a lot of teams look bad. In the 1-3-1, Tampa sends one guy to mark the puck, with one defenseman hanging back. Between the two are two forwards and one defenseman, who work to close off lanes and make things tricky for an opposing team bringing the puck through the neutral zone (for more of an explanation, click here). It’s very hard to beat if you don’t have the right guys. 

“If you get caught flat-footed I think you are playing into their strength,” Claude Julien said after Monday’s practice. “If you create turnovers you are obviously going to pay for it so those are two of the main things you have to be careful about when they play that system.

“When I say we saw Montreal sit back, but I think they sit back even more. And they are even deeper so the one thing they do is once they turn that puck over they counter quickly. It’s going to be really important that we minimize those and obviously you have to create some speed through the neutral zone because standing still you’re a dead duck.”

Among the types of players that can be relied on to beat the 1-3-1 are speedsters who can carry the puck through the neutral zone, and good puck-moving defensemen. Count Kaberle as the latter. Crisp, hard passes to shorten the time in the neutral zone can put a 1-3-1 team on its heels, and Kaberle is the Bruin most capable of making such passes. 

“You always want to go fast through the neutral zone, especially against their system,” Kaberle said in a chat with WEEI.com on Monday. “You have to make sure you make quick passes. You don't want to make bad passes, because that's what they're waiting for. It's kind of like New Jersey, waiting in the neutral zone, and waiting for their chances. We have to play a patient game, and we don't want to give them too many chances."

Julien agrees that Kaberle should be able to make a difference for the Bruins against the 1-3-1, and that his skill set could be particularly effective vs. the Lightning.

“That’s one of his strengths, is passing and finding those seams,” Julien said. “I think to be honest with you, I’ve found that his game in regards to that has been pretty good. He has been moving the puck pretty well through neutral zone.”

The coach even went to bat for the 33-year-old, as the criticism Kaberle’s received for his lack of impact has not cone unnoticed by Julien. 

“People have had a tendency to be hard on him because they probably expected more,” Julien said. “We’re one of those groups that we know we can bring some of those good assets to our power play and we can help him through that. But he still has a decent player as far as his passing is concerned and moving pucks through seams and making those right plays in those tight areas.”

Kaberle admitted things were rough in the early going of the postseason, saying the Canadiens series was “kind of slow” for him before feeling more comfortable against Philadelphia. As the B’s prepare for the third round, is this when Boston will finally see their big deadline splash make a big difference? If there’s any time to do it, one would think this would be it.