BOSTON — — Toronto didn’t have its biggest scoring threat on the ice for a must-win matchup with Boston.
But the Maple Leafs did just enough to put the Bruins’ latest playoff lead in jeopardy.
Matthew Knies scored less than three minutes into overtime off a feed from John Tavares and Toronto beat Boston 2-1 on Tuesday night to stave off elimination in their first-round playoff matchup.
Jake McCabe added a goal and Joseph Woll finished with 28 saves to help Toronto cut Boston’s lead in the series to 3-2. Game 6 is set for Thursday in Toronto.
Knies said Tavares’ ability to fight off Bruins defenders and keep the puck alive in front of the net put him in the spot to put the game away.
“I kind of just found my stick and was fortunate to bury that one and send us back home,” Knies said.
Ilya Lyubushkin, Max Domi, Mitch Marner had assists for the Maple Leafs, who outshot the Bruins 33-28.
Trent Frederic scored for Boston, which will be trying to avoid some déjà vu after surrendering a 3-1 series lead in the first round last season to the Florida Panthers. Jeremy Swayman finished with 31 saves.
“They came and they left it all out there,” Bruins captain Brad Marchand said. “We need to be better. That’s all it is.”
The Maple Leafs played without star Auston Matthews, who sat out with an unspecified illness after making only a brief appearance in the team’s morning skate Tuesday.
Matthews had an NHL-leading 69 goals in the regular season and the winner in Game 2 but managed only four shots combined in Toronto’s losses in Games 3 and 4.
But Toronto stayed in attack mode without him.
“The aggression, the assertiveness that we played from the start. We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves,” coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We didn’t mail it in. We went out and tried to take charge of the hockey game in the first period.”
With the game tied at 1-1 in the third, Toronto had a chance to go in front with 5:05 remaining after Domi broke free with Tyler Bertuzzi for a two-on-one break. Domi passed to Bertuzzi who fired toward the right corner of the net, but Swayman gloved it.
The heat between the Atlantic Division rivals was on display with 22.1 seconds left in the second period.
Knies attempted a wraparound shot that Swayman pounced on. But a scrum ensued in front of the net, leaving bodies piled up.
It led to some face-to-face exchanges and shoving by multiple players before it was broken up by referees.
When it was over, Toronto’s Joel Edmundson, and Boston’s Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle were all called for roughing. Coyle was sent to the penalty box.
Toronto outshot Boston 12-2 and won 16 of 20 faceoffs in the first period. The Maple Leafs pounced on the Bruins’ slow start and got on the scoreboard first.
Domi won a faceoff with Frederic in the Boston defensive zone and shuffled the puck to Marner. He flipped it to McCabe, who fired it past Swayman from up high near the blue line to put Toronto in front 1-0 just over five minutes into the opening period.
Frederic made up for it.
Boston’s Jesper Boqvist forechecked Simon Benoit hard behind Toronto’s goal, making Boqvist fling the puck wildly off Pat Maroon and in front of the net. Frederic was there, gathered the puck and pushed it past Woll to tie the game. It was his third goal of the series.
“As difficult as this one was here tonight, the next one is going to be be even harder. No matter where the game is played,” Keefe said.
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This story has been changed to correct the first name of Toronto player McCabe’s name to Jake instead of Jack.
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