William Nylander scored a double, Joseph Woll stopped 22 shots and the Toronto Maple Leafs forced a final game in their first round series against the Boston Bruins by winning 2-1 on Thursday night at Scotiabank Arena.
The Maple Leafs therefore avoided elimination in a second game in a row. Game 7 will be presented Saturday night in Boston.
The Maple Leafs were without forward Auston Matthews for a second full game in a row.
Matthews was removed from Game 4 due to discomfort and did not play in the Maple Leafs’ 2-1 overtime victory in Boston on Tuesday night.
Nylander took over Thursday by scoring his first goals of the series. He missed the first three games against the Bruins due to injury.
They were also Nylander’s first two goals since March 26. He ended a 13-game drought.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots in front of the Bruins net
Morgan Geekie deprived Woll of a shutout by defeating him with 0.1 seconds on the clock.
The Maple Leafs had a 12-1 advantage in shots on goal in the first period. However, they were unable to take the lead in goals.
Swayman was alert throughout the period, including at the very end, when Matthew Knies almost managed to take advantage of a comeback after a backhand shot from Nylander.
Early in the second period, Jake McCabe was unable to complete a nice climb from Max Domi. His backhand shot barely grazed Swayman’s glove before missing the opening.
The Leafs also wasted four minutes of power play when Pastrnak took a double minor penalty for high sticking.
The Bruins then got going, but Woll closed the door.
The Maple Leafs’ efforts were finally rewarded with 54.8 seconds left in the second period. Nylander fired a wrist shot, then the puck deflected off defenseman Charlie McAvoy before landing in the goal.
John Tavares wasted an opportunity to widen the gap when he missed the target on a slap shot while he was alone in front of Swayman.
For his part, Woll stood out with a nice glove save against Charlie Coyle at the end of a dangerous Bruins sequence.
Swayman gave his team one last chance to level the score, frustrating Domi on a breakaway with just over three minutes remaining.
Nylander, however, delivered the final blow with 2:13 remaining, when he also appeared alone in front of Swayman.