When the Toronto Maple Leafs needed a big play or big saves in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, two rookies showed out to bring the proceedings back home.
Matthew Knies scored early in overtime and Joseph Woll made 27 saves in a 2-1 win for the Maple Leafs, who now look to turn the tables and push visiting Boston to the brink of elimination when the teams meet for Game 6 on Thursday.
“That’s what you want to do, right? You want to build positive momentum your own way. You want to make them be uncomfortable,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “You want to make them pack up and head up to Toronto.”
Boston still leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. The road team has won each of the past four games, including the Bruins’ sweep of Games 3 and 4.
The rookie heroics on Tuesday were even more important considering Auston Matthews was out of Toronto’s lineup due to an illness. Matthews, who has been ruled out for Game 6 as well, led the NHL with 69 goals during the regular season.
“Our urgency, I think our depth (showed) as well,” Knies said. “Woll played a great game, and the same with (Max Domi), who stepped into Auston’s role. … I think everyone just kind of raised their level and had urgency, which helped us.”
Knies has continually elevated his game throughout the series, while Woll earned his first start of the postseason after previously relieving Ilya Samsonov in Game 4. Woll became the third goaltender in the past 10 years and only the second Maple Leafs goalie to record his first two career playoff wins in potential clinching games.
“He’s been really building this series,” Keefe said of Knies. “Game by game, he’s been getting better and better.”
Tuesday marked a missed opportunity from Boston’s perspective, as the Bruins were unable to close out a series in five games on home ice for the second straight season.
The past is the past, but the Florida Panthers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to eliminate the Bruins in a seven-game, first-round series last year.
Boston was outshot 33-28 in Tuesday’s game, but Toronto’s 11-2 advantage in shots in the first period presented a clearer picture of how the contest transpired.
“It’s hard to say anyone was close to a breakthrough offensively,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “Our team game (on Tuesday) wasn’t up to snuff, wasn’t up to our standard.”
In Boston captain Brad Marchand’s eyes, the slow start was the difference. But now, it’s on to the next game.
“We needed to be better than we were,” Marchand said. “It’s that simple. They were prepared to play and start the game, and we weren’t. Unfortunately, we never really kind of got it together throughout the game.”
Montgomery is hoping the Bruins’ previous success in Toronto carries over to Thursday’s meeting. Boston also beat the Maple Leafs on their home ice twice during the regular season.
“We played two really good games there,” Montgomery said. “There’s a little bit of the mentality of we have to bring our own juice, we have to rely on each other.”
–Field Level Media
