Knies, Woll emerge as unlikely heroes for Maple Leafs in Game 5 win

BOSTON -- Sheldon Keefe couldn’t help but grin as he watched Matthew Knies and Joseph Woll field questions at the podium during the Toronto Maple Leafs post-game press conference Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs coach had very little reason to smile entering Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at TD Garden. Not only did his team trail the series 3-1 and face elimination in the best-of-7 matchup against the favored Boston Bruins, it also was missing star center Auston Matthews, who was unable to play after lasting just a few minutes at the morning skate before pulling the plug.

Enter Knies, the 21-year-old forward, and Woll, the 25-year-old goalie. Both only made their Stanley Cup Playoff debuts a year ago. And on this night, the two best friends combined to extend the Maple Leafs season, if not save it.

Backed by Woll’s 27 saves and Knies’ game-winner at 2:26 of overtime, the Maple Leafs posted a 2-1 victory to narrow Boston’s lead in the series to 3-2 and force a Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, NESN, TBS, MAX).

In the end, Toronto lives to play another day, not because the heroes were big names like Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander or John Tavares, rather because of Woll and Knies.

And no one appreciated that fact more than Keefe.

“As happy as I was waiting for those guys to finish (talking) up here, it’s not lost on you that you’ve got two young guys up here that made a real impact on the game here tonight,” the coach said. “So that’s terrific to see.”

In the end, both players were exactly that.

Woll made just one save in the first period and surrendered a Trent Frederic goal, then stopped the remaining 26 shots he faced, including a handful from chaotic scrambles at the edge of his crease. Having starred for nearby Boston College from 2016-2019, he was familiar with the raucous nature of the local fans and seemed to feed off their emotion as the game went on.

“It was pretty special,” he said. “I had the time of my life out there. It’s a place where I played a lot of big games. And to come in here and play the Bruins in an elimination game, it’s pretty special.

“I thought from the drop of the puck our team had a different level of urgency and made me calm back there.”

Woll was making just his third career NHL postseason start and first this spring. He replaced Ilya Samsonov for the third period of Toronto’s 3-1 loss in Game 4 Saturday and got the nod from Keefe to keep the net for Game 5.

Knies has been, in Keefe’s mind, getting better as the series has moved on, never more than early in overtime of Game 5.

With Matthews out indefinitely with an undisclosed injury/ailment, Tavares told reporters after the morning skate that the center’s potential absence would have to be filled by the supporting cast. The captain did exactly that in overtime, charging hard from the right wing at the Bruins net before his centering feed was chipped in by Knies to end the game.

“Everyone still had their heads up high (tonight),” Knies said. “We’re focused on just living to fight another day There wasn’t any quit. There wasn’t any heads down low. I think everyone was focused on doing their job when it came time.

“Everyone’s excited to just go back.”

Maybe not everyone. Maybe not the Bruins.

A year ago, Boston had a similar 3-1 lead over the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round and failed to put them away in Game 5 at TD Garden. Instead, Florida won the final three games of the series in what at the time was considered a shocking upset.

Will history repeat itself this time around?

Keefe won’t answer that. Nor would he show his hand when it comes to Matthews’ possible availability for Game 6.

What he did eagerly discuss, however, was the topic of the resiliency and guts his team showed when facing adversity, led by the two youngsters.

“We didn’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Keefe said. “We didn’t mail it in. We went out to take charge of the hockey game in the first period and I thought we did a terrific job of that.”

Matthews or no Matthews, the Maple Leafs will need to repeat that recipe for success on Thursday.