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There are signs these youthful Toronto Maple Leafs are starting to practice what their coach is preaching.

Ron Wilson wants his charges to go where the goals are scored in the NHL — around the net. Working hard for 60 minutes and staying out of the penalty box wouldn't be bad ideas, either.

The Maple Leafs did almost all of those things last night (their work ethic flagged a little in the early going), and came away with a 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins.

"You just have to work hard, go to the net, put pucks at the net and the rebounds are there for us," winger Nik Antropov said, as if he were reciting Wilson's lectures.

Antropov showed the coach's words are getting through. Down 2-1, he scored the tying goal in the second period by going to the net, fighting off a defenceman and snapping in a feed from linemate Alexei Ponikarovsky.

"The [Matt] Stajan, Antropov and Ponikarovsky line had another good game," Wilson said. "They were really diligent.

"I took some ice time away from Ponikarovsky a couple of games ago. I told him, 'You're not going to get more ice time until you take pucks to the net.'"

Stajan received his own lesson when Wilson scratched him from the lineup for a game earlier this season. Since his return, Stajan has competed harder for pucks and is seen around the net much more often.

Not even a bone-rattling hit from Bruins defenceman Dennis Wideman slowed Stajan for long. He was caught with his head down late in the first period, and was left gasping for air.

Wilson also noted who went after Wideman while Stajan was lying on the ice trying to catch his wind — 18-year-old defenceman Luke Schenn.

"Who jumped in there and how old is he?" the coach said. "That makes him popular in the [dressing] room."

That was verified by Leafs defenceman Mike Van Ryn, who also took a big hit — one that will be a staple on the highlight shows for the rest of the season.

"He's a great kid and a real character," Van Ryn said.

Tough young Bruins winger Milan Lucic drove Van Ryn into the glass early in the second period. The pane exploded and showered the Toronto player with pieces of glass.

"It didn't hurt too bad," said Van Ryn, who knew he was lucky to escape injury. "I guess it's clean living or something. I've got a hard head.

"I came back in [the dressing room], undressed and the training staff helped me clean up."

Van Ryn scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf when he came back, scoring on a power play shortly before Antropov's goal.

Presumably, all this made an impression on winger Jason Blake, who went from Antropov's line to the press box last night because he was not using his speed to go to the net.

Wilson made Blake a healthy scratch to show him and his teammates there are consequences for doing things your own way. Wilson's predecessors, Pat Quinn and Paul Maurice, often talked of doing the same but rarely followed through, which left a lot of players feeling they could do no wrong.

"If I don't do this with Blake, everyone will think there's no integrity to this," Wilson said.

Before they came back from down 2-0 to take charge of the game, the Leafs' effort waxed and waned over the first two periods. Actually, that should be waned and waxed, since the Leafs started well, then faded when Patrice Bergeron and Blake Wheeler scored two quick goals.

There were signs that that sort of thing was going to happen. The Leafs defence developed the shakes in their end and started giving the puck away. They were fortunate the Bruins did not score a couple more goals, as goaltender Vesa Toskala bailed his team out with a couple of great saves.

"You stick to the plan, and every once in a while we'll make some silly mistakes, which we did," Wilson said. "But they're a young team and they're not going to give up and say, 'Here we go again.'"

Anton Stralman scored the game-winner half-way through the third period. And Niklas Hagman added an empty-net goal with three seconds left to give the Leafs their highest number of goals in a game this season.

NOTES: Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Hollweg returned from his second suspension for hitting from behind. He managed to get through last night's game without a penalty of any kind. … Both the Boston Bruins and Maple Leafs may be having trouble in shootouts — each team has lost three this season — but their coaches say they still like them. "We're an entertainment sport. You can ask every team that's won a shootout and they'd say they love it," Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. Ron Wilson of the Leafs agrees the gimmick is entertaining for the fans. "I love it," he insisted. … Defencemen Ian White and Carlo Colaiacovo once again were scratched from the Leafs lineup, along with forward Jason Blake.

NEXT GAME: Tomorrow, 7 p.m. (ET), versus the Ottawa Senators.

TV: CBC