Andersen, Leafs force Game 7
TORONTO Frederik Andersen made 32 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins 3-1 to tie their first-round playoff series 3-3 on Monday night.
William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Tomas Plekanec, into an empty net, scored for the Leafs, who trailed the Eastern Conference quarterfinal 3-1 before winning two straight to force Game 7 on Wednesday in Boston.
Nikita Zaitsev added two assists. Marner and Plekanec had one assist each.
Jake DeBrusk replied for the Bruins. Tuukka Rask stopped 27 shots after getting pulled in Game 5 at TD Garden.
The winner of the series will meet the Tampa Bay Lightning in the next round.
“We knew we had to steal some games in Boston. Now we have to steal two,” Marner said.
There was a moment of silence before the opening faceoff at Air Canada Centre to honour the 10 people killed Monday when a van mounted a sidewalk in Toronto’s north end and struck multiple pedestrians. Fifteen others were injured.
Scoreless after an end-to-end first period, the Bruins grabbed a 1-0 lead 1:02 into the second when David Krejci won a faceoff after an icing against Auston Matthews right to DeBrusk, who ripped a shot between Andersen’s arm and body.
Toronto responded just 35 seconds later when Nylander buried a rebound off a Jake Gardiner shot from the point for his first goal of the playoffs.
The Leafs appeared to go ahead at 3:04 when Zach Hyman beat Rask with a no-look backhand as he fell to the ice. But the Bruins challenged the play for goalie interference, and replays showed the winger knocked the stick out of Rask’s hands as he cruised through the crease just before scoring.
Boston took control of the period from there as Toronto could barely get out of its own zone or complete a clean breakout. Andersen — who recorded 42 stops in a 4-3 victory in Game 5 on Saturday — made great saves off Rick Nash, Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron to keep things level.
The Leafs then took an unlikely lead completely against the run of play with 6:35 left in the period when Marner was quickest to a loose puck in the slot and beat Rask with a backhand to the far post after Marchand couldn’t clear.
“We stayed above people,” Marner said. “We didn’t try too many pretty things. We got the puck in. When we got our chances, we put them in.”
The Leafs have trailed 3-1 in a best-of-seven series 15 times, with their only victory coming in the 1942 Stanley Cup final when they stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Detroit Red Wings.