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The Toronto Maple Leafs were in a position where most of their fans wrote them off after a poor performance in Game 4, trailing 3-1 to the Boston Bruins and facing elimination at TD Garden on Tuesday. To make matters worse, they would have to go to battle without leading scorer Auston Matthews, but the Leafs played well early, scored the first goal, held off a late onslaught thanks to the goaltending of Joseph Woll and extended the best-of-seven series with the Boston Bruins with a 2-1 victory thanks to Matthew Knies overtime goal.
Woll recovered from an early Trent Frederic goal and made 27 saves on the night, including a sprawling stop of Frederic in the third period to keep the game tied and a series of saves early in overtime.
“Joe knew he wasn’t going to be starting Game 1 of the playoffs, it was really obvious to me that he was going to continue to work and do everything that he could, prepare as though he was playing, and stay ready. He has certainly done that.” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said after the game. “Because of that and how the games and the series have gone, we have had daily discussions about when the right time is to get Joe in. Because of (Ilya Samsonov), how he has played, how he has competed, and how he has bounced back so many times — including from Game 1 to Game 2 in this series, you stay with Sammy, but Joe showed tonight why we have confidence in him.”
Toronto played with more intensity and physicality throughout the lineup in the contest and took advantage of a Bruins squad that seemed tentative in their first opportunity to close out the series. Jake McCabe gave the Leafs the lead early in the first on a long point shot that drifted by Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman, but the Bruins tied the game on a Simon Benoit clearing attempt that went right to Frederic in front of the net. The remainder of the game was a series of ebbs and flows with both clubs having chances to take the lead. Swayman was excellent as he has been in the series, making 31 saves, but Woll had more pressure with Toronto’s season in the balance and was equal to the task.
In the absence of Matthews, Max Domi moved to center between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, and it was the most effective line of the night for Toronto, as Domi won 12 of 14 draws, including the one prior to McCabe’s goal. Marner rebounded from Game 4 with his best effort of the series, assisting on the opening goal and playing nearly 22 minutes.
It was an overall solid performance for the Leafs blueline and individuals up front who stood out were Knies (who besides scoring the OT winner was physical and stood up for Morgan Rielly when the Bruins tried to pull some shenanigans in the third period), McCabe (who led the club with six hits), and Tavares (who in the absence of Matthews played 22:34, had four shots and uncharacteristically had five hits).
“Everybody put in a tremendous effort in that first period. It was difficult to come out of it at 1-1, but as I said to the guys between periods, we played a tremendous period, and yet it was still 1-1. That is how hard and tight this is. We have to stay with it. It is going to require 60 minutes. Tonight, it was even more than that.” Keefe said. “The way we went out, took charge of the game and asserted ourselves early was impressive. A really good message from the players to deliver like that.”
With Game 6 in Toronto on Thursday, the Bruins feel the pressure of trying to close out a first-round opponent, which they failed to do last year against Florida, but make no mistake the pressure will be squarely on the Leafs to snap their six-game home playoff losing skid. The status of Matthews will be shrouded in mystery until just before game time, but Toronto has to assume he will not be available and repeat the effort in Game 5 in front of their supporters.
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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