Game 5 takeaways: Leafs avoid elimination with OT win vs. Bruins

Game 5 takeaways: Leafs avoid elimination with OT win vs. Bruins originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON – The Toronto Maple Leafs have new life in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Despite being without their best player and NHL leading scorer Auston Matthews in Game 5 of their first round series against the Boston Bruins, the Leafs showed impressive fight and resilience to earn a 2-1 overtime victory on Tuesday at TD Garden. and force a Game 6 in Toronto.

Leafs forward Matthew Knies scored the winning goal just 2:26 into overtime.

The Bruins were in a very similar situation last year as well. They had a 3-1 series lead entering Game 5 at home against the Florida Panthers. They lost Game 5 in overtime and then lost the next two games as the season came to a surprising end. Boston has two more chances to avoid a repeat of the scenario, starting with Game 6, on Thursday night, at Scotiabank Arena.

The Leafs need to end their six-game playoff losing streak at home to force a decisive Game 7 on Saturday in Boston. Before we look ahead to Thursday’s matchup, here are three takeaways from Bruins-Leafs Game 5.

Bruins lucky to tie after first period

The Bruins had a very difficult start to the game. They iced the puck several times in the first 10 minutes, including one that resulted in a defensive zone faceoff that ultimately led to the Leafs opening the scoring.

Mitch Marner picked up the puck after a faceoff win and gave it to Jake McCabe at that moment. His shot beat Jeremy Swayman in traffic and put Toronto in the lead early on.

Tackling was a big problem for the Bruins in the first period. They lost 16 of 20 faceoffs in the frame, including a dismal 4 of 14 in the defensive zone. The Leafs also had a 30-7 advantage in shot attempts, a 12-2 advantage in shots and a 9-2 advantage in scoring chances during the period. The ice tilted heavily in Toronto’s favor.

Still, the Bruins went into halftime with a goal behind, thanks to Trent Frederic. Jesper Boqvist and Pat Maroon did a good job fighting down the goal line and were able to get the puck to Frederic in front of the net, who beat his childhood teammate Joseph Wall to get Boston on the board.

It was the second time in this series that Frederic tied it at one. He did it in Game 3 as well.

Joseph Woll intervened when the Leafs needed it most

The Leafs entered this game with a .871 save percentage as a first-round team. Poor goal defense was one of the main reasons they entered Game 5 down 3-1 in the series.

A change by coach Sheldon Keefe made a big difference Tuesday night.

Joseph Woll, who played very well in the third period of Game 4 in place of Ilya Samsonov, made his series debut. He played very well, making a few saves in each period, perhaps none more important than this stop on Trent Frederic with the score tied in the third period.

Woll also made some clutch stops early in overtime. He finished with 28 saves on 29 shots (.966 save percentage). There’s no way Woll won’t start Game 6. He deserved it.

Which goalie starts Game 6 for the Bruins?

The Bruins gave Jeremy Swayman a third straight start, which made sense considering he had won the previous three games in the series and hadn’t lost to the Leafs since April 29, 2022.

Swayman was very busy early. He made 11 saves on 12 shots in the first 20 minutes. The only puck he didn’t stop came on a point shot that went through traffic in front of the net.

One of Swayman’s best saves came during a second period penalty when he had to move quickly from right to left to get in front of a shot from Morgan Rielly.

The University of Maine product made another good stop during a 2-on-1 run in the third quarter.

Swayman finished with 31 saves on 33 shots (.939 save percentage).

The Bruins now have a difficult decision to make. Do they stick with Swayman, who played very well again in Game 5 despite the loss, or do they go back to Ullmark? If Ullmark starts Game 6, it will be his first appearance in 10 days. Would he be rusty? If Swayman starts Game 6, it will be his fourth game in nine days.

Swayman had two stellar performances in Toronto earlier in the series. He was the best goaltender statistically in the entire 2024 playoffs. A strong case could be made to take advantage of the hot hand and let Swayman finish the series, win or lose.