'Playing for our lives': Maple Leafs pass character test with OT thriller

BOSTON -- Sometime after Matthew Knies puffed his chest and laughingly dared David Pastrnak to fight him, the rookie with the heavy (if still developing) game and the uncrushable spirit drove Jeremy Swayman's crease with Game 5 and the Toronto Maple Leafs' season facing sudden death.

A hardworking net drive by John Tavares preoccupied two defenders before the captain swooped a dangerous puck Knies's way. The kid pounded the thing home.

Knies dipped one knee and shook both fists. He jumped up and threw his 217 pounds into the TD Garden Plexiglas, silencing the crowd as he screamed with joy. He got mobbed in fourth-period hockey hugs. The best kind.

"Gosh, you black out a little bit, you know? I was just so excited and so happy," Knies said of his playoff OT moment, the one that snatched a 2-1 must-win in enemy territory on Tuesday and forced a Game 6 in the Six.

"I think what brought me more joy was to see the faces of my teammates and how much they wanted to keep playing."

Knies has taken more hits in this series than Snoop Dogg soaking in a Cheech & Chong marathon. The 21-year-old's first full pro season has taken a physical and mental toll. Yet he's not one to complain or back down.

"He came in on a high of adrenaline high last year and didn't really know much. He was just playing and being a big, strong guy that's working with a good stick," said coach Sheldon Keefe, thinking back to the 2023 series versus Tampa, when the ink had barely dried on Knies's ELC.

"But he's been really building this series, game by game. He's been getting better and better. I thought tonight he was terrific. It's very fitting that he gets the winner."

As Keefe watched Game 5's first two stars, Knies and goalie Joseph Woll, take the post-game podium in front of a Stanley Cup–patterned backdrop, it was not lost on the coach that these young faces represent the future of the Maple Leafs.

(They also represent two guys unburdened by the ghosts of first-round exits past.)

A couple of key emerging pieces who have become good friends, who dipped their toe into the spotlight last spring, and who rose to the occasion on a night when the marquee names on both sides of the ledger were largely silent (or, in Auston Matthews' case, absent).

"Everyone just raised their level of urgency," Knies said, "and I think that helped us win here today."

Aggression and assertiveness were qualities sorely lacking through Toronto's Game 4 disappointment at home, and thus positioned Game 5 as a referendum on the club's character. Its heart.

Any suspicion that the Leafs would slip away with a whimper were quelled in a dominant first 20 minutes, during which the visitors outshot the home side 12-2.

"We went out to take charge of the hockey game in the first period, and I thought we did a terrific job of that," Keefe said.

Even so, Boston's Trent Frederic cashed in, beating Woll, on a slot chance when Simon Benoit got worked over by a hard forecheck, and the score was knotted 1-1.

Toronto knew it deserved better but kept pressing. Woll slammed the door, and the Leafs were patient enough to grind out a 2-1 victory.

"Playing for our lives," Max Domi said. "And we weren't going to be denied."

"You’re fighting for your season," added Morgan Rielly. "There’s definitely more on the line, so the expectations of work ethic and execution go up."

And the pressure shifts.

Unlike the three other Eastern Conference series leaders, the Bruins failed to finish things off in five games or less. Memories of Round 1, 2023, this city wants to erase linger.

Bruins coach Jim Montgomery is getting questioned for making multiple (ineffective) lineup changes Tuesday to a winning lineup.

Pastrnak is getting challenged by fans to score more. The referees are getting an earful from Beantown. And did anyone else notice that stud D-man Brandon Carlo was not on the bench for overtime after taking a shot to the face?

Yes, the Maple Leafs are alive, thanks to some clutch youth and the most consistent full-team effort we've seen this month.

"The next one is going to be even harder, no matter where the game is played," Keefe cautioned. "Because now you've got their attention again."

After the biggest win of the year, MLSE chairman Larry Tanenbaum ducked into the visitors' dressing room and gave a shirtless Rielly an embrace.

A heaviness lifted.

There's more hockey to go.

Executive Shane Doan looked on as the travelling reporters filed out of the Leafs' room, many of them holding off hitting send on the team's obituary.

Doan smiled a smile as wide as the opportunity that still exists: "You guys want to come back to Boston one more time, don't you?"

Fox's Fast Five

• Matthews missed just one game all season.

He was unfit to play Game 5 with an undisclosed injury, forcing Keefe to form a brand-new first line centred by Max Domi and flanked by Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi.

That group was superb, setting up Jake McCabe's opening goal and caving in the Bruins to a shot split of 10-3.

Domi was a beast in the faceoff dot, going 12-for-14 (86 per cent).

"The line was really good," Keefe praised. "Max did a tremendous job."

Now get ready for 48 more hours of Matthews Watch.

"The boys weren't gonna let that one slide," Domi said. "Want to give him a chance to get back in the lineup, and we did."

• John Tavares knows what it's like to be on a team that lets a 3-1 series lead slip away: "The more opportunities you have and you don't close on it, you get a little bit tighter."

• TD Garden's ice looked rough. The puck was bobbling on everyone, and plenty of guys lost edges. The first period was like watching an outdoor game.

This crew has been flipping the arena floor to host Celtics and Bruins playoff games all week.

• Toronto's power play continues to struggle mightily.

The Leafs are 1-for-17 (5.9 per cent) on the man-advantage in this series, they've been granted three more power plays than Boston, and yet the Bruins' PK is giving them fits.

"Very organized team," Timothy Liljegren explains. "They put a lot of pressure [on you]. You don’t have a lot of time with the puck, so just got to move the puck quicker, get shots on net, win battles, get pucks back and shoot again." 

The ice-cold PP is a major reason why the Leafs have been limited to two or fewer goals in 12 of their past 13 playoff games (three or fewer in 13 straight). Yikes.

• Old tweets exposed!

Here's what Knies said after the Bruins swept their regular-season games against Toronto: