Game 6 of the best-of-7 series will be at Toronto on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, TBS, MAX).
Jake McCabe scored, and Joseph Woll made 27 saves in his first start of the series for Toronto, the No. 3 seed from the Atlantic Division.
“You want to build positive momentum your own way,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And yeah, you want to make them be uncomfortable. You want to make them have to pack up and head out to Toronto.”
Trent Frederic scored, and Swayman made 31 saves for Boston, the No. 2 seed from the Atlantic.
“We weren’t good enough,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Just simple as that. Toronto came out ready to play. They took it to us. We weren’t ready to match their desperation.”
The Maple Leafs were without center Auston Matthews, the NHL goals leader in the regular season with 69, who missed the third period of Toronto’s 3-1 loss in Game 4 because of an illness. There was no update on him after the game.
The Maple Leafs outshot the Bruins 11-2 in the first period, but the game was tied 1-1 entering the second.
McCabe gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 5:33 of the first, shooting through traffic from the point.
“They get a goal decently early off the face-off after I lost it,” Frederic said. “That gives them momentum. Anytime you get the first goal, it helps.”