Maple Leafs down the Bruins to force Game 6

Frederik Andersen finished off an energy drink as he prepared to speak with reporters. Then he paused to take a sip of water in the middle of his first answer.

The exhausted Toronto goalie had earned every drop.

Andersen made 42 saves as the Maple Leafs survived a furious thirdperiod charge from the Boston Bruins to secure a 4-3 victory Saturday and force a sixth game in their first-round playoff series.

“We want to battle for each other,” Andersen said. “We want to play for each other in this locker room.”

Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk had a goal and an assist each, while Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson also scored for the Leafs, who still trail the Bruins 3-2 in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal going into Monday’s Game 6 back at the Air Canada Centre.

The owner of a pedestrian .880 save percentage in the series coming into Saturday, Andersen is the main reason the Toronto is still alive.

“You’ve got to respond right away. That’s hockey for you,” he said. “A lot of stuff can go wrong and you can feel like you’re

not getting any bounces your way, but you’ve just got to battle through it.”

Noel Acciari, with a goal and an assist, David Backes and Sean Kuraly replied for the Bruins, who had No. 1 centre Patrice Bergeron back in the lineup after he was a surprise scratch with an upper-body injury in Game 4. Torey Krug added two assists.

Tuukka Rask allowed four goals on 13 shots before getting the hook in

favour of Anton Khudobin, who made eight saves.

“Probably could’ve stopped more pucks with my eyes closed,” Rask said. “It’s on me, but (I’m) moving on to the next one and we’ll finish it out in Toronto.”

Boston was 1 for 6 on the power play, including one long 5 on 3 where the Bruins failed to connect, while Toronto scored on its only chance.

The Leafs fell behind the Bruins 3-1 the last time the teams met in the playoffs back in 2013 before tying the series 33. Toronto then led 4-1 in the third period of Game 7 at TD Garden only to have Boston storm back to grab a stunning 5-4 overtime victory.

“That’s in the past,” said Nazem Kadri, one of five Leafs from that dreadful night still on the roster. “Maybe it’s time we turned the page on that one.”