By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer

BOSTON (AP) - The regular season wasn't much of a struggle for the Boston Bruins, and neither was their first-round playoff series against the Detroit Red Wings.

Tuukka Rask made 31 saves Saturday, and the defending Eastern Conference champions eliminated the Red Wings with a 4-2 victory in Game 5.

After finishing the regular season with the best record in the NHL, the Bruins advanced to the conference semifinals against the Montreal Canadiens.

"That series was much tougher than maybe the results showed," said Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, who gave Boston the lead for good with 4 seconds left in the second period. "I think that we handled it well, we came into this series ready and we got the job done."

Loui Eriksson opened the scoring for Boston, and Chara's goal on a 4-on-3 advantage snapped a 1-1 tie. Milan Lucic also scored, and Jarome Iginla added an empty-netter.

Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg scored and Jonas Gustavsson stopped 29 shots for Detroit. The Red Wings scored only six goals in the five-game series.

"We're not there yet," said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, whose team failed to win a playoff series in two of the past three seasons. "The last two years, we battled to get into the playoffs. To me, that's a measure of where we are. Instead of battling for the Cup, we're battling to make the playoffs."

It was 1-1 when the Bruins gained a 4-on-3 power play thanks to a holding penalty on Johan Franzen just 22 seconds before Brendan Smith was called for cross-checking. On a faceoff in the Detroit zone, Patrice Bergeron lured two of the three Red Wings defenders toward the corner and then passed it across the ice to Chara, who one-timed it past Gustavsson.

Not usually demonstrative, Chara felt this one was worth celebrating.

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Bruins beat Red Wings 4-2, advance in NHL playoffs