BOSTON – Matthew Nease scored at 2:26 of overtime, as the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday and avoided elimination in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
The rookie winger scored after captain John Tavares took the puck to the net with great force in the extra period to give the Leafs life.
Jake McCabe scored the second goal for Toronto. Joseph Woll, the starter ahead of Ilya Samsonov, made 28 saves.
Game 6 takes place Thursday in Toronto. Game 7, if necessary, will be back at TD Garden on Saturday.
Trent Frederick answered for Boston, which still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2, but memories of last spring’s 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers in the opening round will still be fresh in their minds.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 31 shots.
The Leafs were minus star center Auston Matthews when an illness forced him out of the second intermission of Toronto’s 3–1 loss on home ice in Game 4. The 26-year-old sniper, who led the NHL with 69 goals in the regular season, made a cameo in Tuesday’s optional morning skate but was unable to keep pace with his teammates as the group faced elimination.
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Vol made his playoff debut last season in Toronto’s second-round loss to Florida with Samsonov injured. He played a clean third period Saturday that took the Leafs to the brink after his crease partner withdrew.
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Toronto, which had recovered from 3-1 losses against Boston in 2013 and 2018 before going on a seven-game losing streak, opened the scoring at 5:33 of the first period inside a nervous TD Garden.
Max Domi won the faceoff after icing and Mitch Marner fed a puck back to McCabe through a screen for his first of the series.
The Vols had little to do on the other end and shots were at 7-1 until a tough layup gave the Bruins a tie. Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit’s clearing attempt behind the net hit Boston forward Pat Maroon and bounced past Frederick for his third goal at 13:54.
The visitors’ surprising power play — 1 of 14 in the series starting Tuesday — had a chance a minute later, but was unable to do anything in the period, with Toronto still dominating the shot clock 12-2. Was.
The Leafs’ under-fire penalty kill did its job early in the second before William Nylander, who missed the first three games due to an undisclosed injury, hit a shot off the crossbar coming out of the box.
Voll made a nice pad stop on Morgan Geikie and Domi blocked a shot that went wide of Swayman’s goal.
Toronto came close late in the period, but Boston held the fort early on a scrum that involved Bruins captain Brad Marchand going after Marner – and led to a Leafs power play with 1:38 to start the third. Was left.
But Toronto could do nothing with the fresh blanket of snow and fell to 1 of 17 with the man advantage.
Marchand had a great chance after a long spell in the box, but could only parry his effort. Bruins forwards Pontus Holmberg were given offsetting minors and Boston’s Charlie Coyle deflected a shot off the Vols’ right post while the teams were playing 4-on-4.
The Toronto goaltender then fouled Frederick with 7:27 left before Swayman stopped Tyler Bertuzzi on a 2-on-1 with Domi.
switching it up
The Bruins made two changes to the lineup, with defenseman Matt Grzelcyk replacing Kevin Shattenkirk and former Leafs prospect Justin Brazeau replacing John Beecher.
Toronto blueliner Timothy Liljegren returned in place of TJ Brodie, while Connor Dewar returned with Matthews out.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 30, 2024.
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