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Maple Leafs force Game 6 with Bruins

 
The Maple Leafs' James van Riemsdyk, middle left, celebrates his goal against the Bruins' Tuukka Rask with Tyler Bozak (42) and Nazem Kadri (43) as Boston's Brad Marchand skates away. (Associated Press)
The Maple Leafs' James van Riemsdyk, middle left, celebrates his goal against the Bruins' Tuukka Rask with Tyler Bozak (42) and Nazem Kadri (43) as Boston's Brad Marchand skates away. (Associated Press)
Published April 22, 2018

BOSTON — Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk scored 1:19 apart in the second period, and then the Maple Leafs killed off a 5-on-3 and three more power plays in a row to beat the Bruins 4-3 in Game 5 on Saturday night and avoid playoff elimination.

Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson each scored his first career playoff goal in the first period, and the Maple Leafs took a 4-1 lead to chase Tuukka Rask in the second.

Toronto also led 4-1 in Game 7 of the teams' 2013 playoff series before the Bruins won in overtime en route to their second Stanley Cup final berth in two years.

This time, Boston cut the deficit to one goal, but the Leafs held on.
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.

Jake DeBrusk and Sean Kuraly scored for the Bruins. Patrice Bergeron returned to the ice after missing one game with an undisclosed injury but not to the score sheet; his line, which had 20 points in the first two games, was held without a goal or assist.

Rask was pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots before skipping off to the locker room when he was pulled with 8:05 left in the second. Anton Khudobin, making his first career playoff appearance, stopped all eight shots he saw the rest of the way.

Leading 4-1 midway through the game, the Leafs gave Boston four straight power plays — putting four players in the penalty box at one point — but killed each one off. Kuraly made it a two-goal game with about three minutes left in the second, and Noel Acciari made it 4-3 six minutes into the third.

Toronto lost the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Boston by a combined score of 12-4, then won the third game at home before dropping the fourth to fall to the brink of elimination. The Maple Leafs also fell behind 3-1 in 2013 before back-to-back victories that forced a seventh game.