Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7

William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.

William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.

Toronto has now won two straight - including Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory in Game 5 - after falling behind their Original Six rival 3-1 to force a winner-take-all finale Saturday in Boston. Morgan Rielly had two assists.

Jeremy Swayman stopped 24 shots for the Bruins, who also blew a 3-1 lead against the Florida Panthers in last spring's first round before losing in Game 7 following a record-setting regular season. Morgan Geekie scored ruined Woll's shutout with 0.1 seconds left.

The Leafs were minus Auston Matthews for a second straight elimination contest after the star centre was pulled from Game 4 with an illness and then missed Tuesday's 2-1 overtime victory at TD Garden that kept Toronto alive.

The winner of Leafs-Bruins will take on the well-rested Florida Panthers, who topped the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in that series, in the second round.

Nylander snapped a 0-0 tie with 54.8 seconds left in the middle period with some of his patented Swedish style. The slick winger took a pass from Timothy Liljegren in the offensive zone before weaving away from his check and firing a shot that glanced off Bruins defenceman Charlie McAvoy in front and beat Swayman on the shortside.

The goal set off wild celebrations inside an electric Scotiabank Arena - and outside the rink as Maple Leaf Square turned into a mosh pit of blue and white.