The Bruins could have used a cupcake. They were coming off a hard-fought, 3-2 shootout win over Philadelphia Saturday. They will depart from Hanscom Field in Bedford Wednesday morning to kick off a three-game California trip, their longest remaining road swing of the regular season.

They got a patsy in the Leafs. Toronto came out with JV goaltending and a roster full of skaters that offered zero resistance. Toronto coach Randy Carlyle had to pull starter James Reimer (five saves on nine shots) after the Bruins poured in four first-period goals.

But the relief netminder didn’t have much, either. The Bruins ripped three pucks past Jonas Gustavsson (Pouliot, Zdeno Chara, Rolston) in the second period, then added one more in the third when Tyler Seguin scored with 1:31 remaining.

“We really looked at this as more of a statement game for us because we’ve been struggling,’’ said coach Claude Julien. “We had to come out with the kind of effort we had the game before, which is something we haven’t done very much in a long time.’’

Gustavsson stopped only 11 of 15 shots. If the Leafs hope to end their playoff drought next season, a goaltending upgrade will be general manager Brian Burke’s No. 1 priority.

The Bruins are 3 points ahead of Ottawa in the race for the Northeast Division title and a second- or third-place berth in the conference. Less than a week ago, the Senators pulled ahead of the Bruins, who had tumbled into seventh place.

“Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that Ottawa did pass us,’’ Lucic said. “Maybe there was that little fire that needed to be re-lit. We’ve got to keep it going from here on in.’’