TORONTO - William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Toronto has now won two straight — including Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory in Game 5 — after falling behind their Original Six rival 3-1 to force a winner-take-all finale Saturday in Boston. Morgan Rielly had two assists.
Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who also blew a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers in last spring's first round before losing in Game 7 following a record-setting regular season. Morgan Geekie scored ruined Woll's shutout with 0.1 seconds left.
The Leafs were minus Auston Matthews for a second straight elimination contest after the star centre was pulled from Game 4 with an illness and then missed Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory at TD Garden that kept Toronto alive.
The winner of Leafs-Bruins will take on the well-rested Florida Panthers, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in that series, in the second round.
Nylander snapped a 0-0 tie with 54.8 seconds left in the middle period with some of his patented Swedish style. The slick winger took a pass from Timothy Liljegren in the offensive zone before weaving away from his check and firing a shot that glanced off Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy in front and beat Swayman on the shortside.
WILLY STYLES!!! 😎 pic.twitter.com/9otOYrJbKG
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 3, 2024
COOL CALM AND IN STYLE!! 😎 pic.twitter.com/RZPixjg5hL
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) May 3, 2024