On Thursday night in Toronto, William Nylander carried the Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins in a Game 6 win.The victory forces a Game 7 back in Boston on Saturday.
Nylander hit for a double in the win.
His second of the night came at 17:47 of the third after blocking a Bruins shot from the blueline. The puck found its way to Morgan Reilly who chipped it up ice to Matthew Knies at the right boards at center ice.
Knies then it poked it to Nylander for a breakaway and a 2-0 lead.
“Remarkable,” Knies said of Nylander. “He battled all night, threw a big hit, scored two goals. Can’t ask much more from him.”
Joseph Woll, who iced his second straight start, made 22 saves in the win.
“It was awesome to see [our defensive effort] in front of me,” Woll said. “It gives me a lot of confidence back there when our group has been playing like that the past couple games and guys are laying out and blocking shots and coming up big in those moments.”
Nylander’s first goal of the game came with 55 seconds left in the middle frame.
“He’s a heck of a game-breaker,” Toronto’s John Tavares said. “When he has the puck on his stick, he can make something happen at any time. Two elite finishes for us tonight to obviously come at a big time in a huge way. It’s not surprising.
“Just feeling the pressure knowing they were being aggressive and pushing the envelope,” Tavares said. “Recognizing that and obviously just making a nice little play to give ‘Willy’ an opportunity to go in and do his thing. Those little plays go a long way and are big difference-makers when it’s playoff hockey and there’s not much room out there. Tension is high and it was a critical time in the game, it was a big play by him.”
He scored from above the right circle with a shot that found its way through traffic and a 1-0 lead to the Maple Leafs.
Morgan Geekie scored with one second left on the game clock to ruin the Wolf shutout bid.
“It’s a tight game,” Boston’s Brad Marchand said. “They’re starting well every game. They are prepared to play, first shift and we need to be better in that area. I think we had maybe one game where we started as good or better than them.”
He scored off a rebound at the crease.
“It’s unacceptable, our start again,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We have to find a way to start on time, and we just have to be better. Toronto, starting on time, they’re getting the advantage, they have the momentum. I thought the last 30 minutes we pushed back really well, but it shouldn’t take that long.”
This is the second straight year that Boston has held a 31 series lead only to find themselves in a Game 7.
Last season they lost Game 7 to the Florida Panthers. 
Jeremy Swayman made 24 saves in the loss.
“We finished well but we’ve got to definitely start that way,” Marchand said. “We’re both fighting for our season next game. That definitely is the recipe for us to have success. We were competing hard, winning battles, supporting each other well, something we didn’t do great in the first half of the game, so we have to bring it in the first half next game.”
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