Knies plays overtime hero
Missing their best player, Leafs narrowly avoid elimination in Game 5
The Maple Leafs lived to fight another day.
Without Auston Matthews for a do-or-die Game 5 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Leafs needed overtime to take down the Boston Bruins 2-1 at TD Garden. Matthew Knies was the hero, batting in a John Tavares shot as the captain drove to the net just 2:26 into overtime.
“You black out a little bit,” Knies said. “Honestly, I was more happy to see the faces of my teammates.”
“I just wanted to throw a puck in there a cause some confusion,” Tavares said. “Great job by Knies, reading it, making a play and getting the winner.”
There are questions about the team’s offence — they have scored two or fewer goals in 11 of their last 12 playoff games. But the Leafs were not intimidated to play such a pivotal game without Matthews. They were 35-19-2 all time in the regular season without him.
The new first line dominated the Bruins, especially Max Domi at the faceoff dot, winning 12 of 14 draws. And they set up Jake McCabe for the first goal. Mitch Marner got the primary assist. In doing so he became the 12th Leaf to reach 50 career playoff points.
“We weren’t going to be denied tonight,” Domi said. “We found a way to get the job done. We move on to the next one. Repeat and do the same thing.”
Glimmer of hope
The Maple Leafs faced a 3-1 series deficit against the Bruins for the third time in the last 11 years. Toronto rallied to force a Game 7 during each of the two previous instances over that span.
“We’re going to keep fighting, keep believing, keep trusting each other, keep working to earn the chance Thursday (in Game 6), and follow it up and send it to game seven,” Tavares said.
The Leafs have given themselves a glimmer of hope, but the reality is harsh. The team is 2-15 all-time when trailing a best-of-7 series three games to two when the other team has home-ice advantage.
“If you dwell too much on that, I think it kind of creeps in your mind a little bit,” said Ryan Reaves. “You just have to take it game by game. I think you’ve got to look at what you’ve done in the regular season. You’ve put three games together before. It’s not out of the realm to do it again.”
Seed of doubt
The Leafs had hoped a win in Game 5 would not only give them momentum, but plant a seed of doubt in Boston. The Bruins had a 3-1 series lead against Florida in the first round last year, and lost the next three games.
“It is a nice, fresh reminder that these things happen,” Keefe said. “Teams do come back and we’ve been on the other side of one (versus Montreal in 2021). These things happen, these things are possible. Obviously, they’re not possible if you don’t start with one.”
Going with Woll
The Leafs went with Joseph Woll to start the game. He played the third period in Game 4 in relief of Ilya Samsonov, but got his first playoff start since Game 4 of the second round last year against Florida. That was a rare elimination-game win for the Leafs, though they fell in five games.
“For a young guy, (Woll is) pretty steady,” Reaves said. “He’s been really good for us, obviously was really keeping us afloat before he went down. Then he’s come back and played some pretty good hockey when he got in. I think we’re a confident bunch when he’s in the net.”
The Bruins, to the surprise of no one, went with Jeremy Swayman. He hadn’t lost to the Leafs all season.
Good start
The Leafs had a terrific first period, dominating play, while the Bruins seemed the tentative side. No matter, the game was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
McCabe opened the scoring on a feed from Marner, a long shot from the point that fooled Swayman.
The Leafs did a tremendous job of keeping the play in the Boston end, firing 12 shots at the Boston net, and protecting Woll when the play came the other way. Boston only had two shots. Unfortunately for the Leafs, the second one beat Woll. Simon Benoit’s clearing attempt bounced off a skate, straight to Trent Frederic in the slot and Woll had no chance.
A crowd that had been taken out of the game with Toronto’s forechecking was back into it.
The second period was more even, and the crowd was back into it. There were great chances on both sides. Nylander hit a crossbar and Woll made 10 saves, including a big one on Jesper Boqvist.
The period ended with evidence that tensions were getting high on both sides. A Knies wraparound attempt led to a couple of scrums in front of Swayman and a Leafs power play that carried over into the third.