Maple Leafs hold on to beat Bruins 4-3

The Toronto Maple Leafs opened another 4-1 lead in Boston, and this time they held on.

Just barely.

Five years after blowing a three-goal lead in a play-off elimination game against the Bruins, Toronto killed off a 5-on-3 and three more penalties to beat the Bruins 4-3 in Game 5 on Saturday night and force the series to a sixth game.

“That was a little bit nerve-racking,” said Toronto forward Nazem Kadri, who returned from a threegame suspension and had an assist. “But we were able to weather the storm. Playoff games on the road, sometimes you just have to survive.”

Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson each scored his first career play-off goal in the first period, and Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk scored 1:19 apart in the second to make it 4-1 and chase Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask.

Boston cut the deficit to one goal, but the Leafs survived despite a parade of penalties that left four men in the box at one point. “When you’re down a man six times — and it was six times — it’s ridiculous,” Toronto coach Mike Babcock said.

Frederik Andersen stopped 42 shots for Toronto, which returns home for Game 6 on Monday. Game 7 would be back in Boston on Wednesday, if necessary.

When the teams last met in the playoffs in 2013, Toronto twice won to stave off elimination and force the series to a seventh game. Once there, the Maple Leafs took a 4-1 into the third period before the Bruins won in overtime en route to their second Stanley Cup final berth in two years.