The Bruins were shut down once again in Game 6, and now face elimination in Game 7 Saturday - The Boston Globe

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This best-of-seven, first-round Stanley Cup playoff series will now be decided in the 617 with the winner-take-all match Saturday night at TD Garden.

William Nylander scored his first two goals of the playoffs to propel the Leafs, who now have a chance to take a playoff series from the Bruins for the first time in 65 years.

Woll, meanwhile, has been superb since taking over the Toronto net from Ilya Samsonov in the third period of Game 4.

The Maple Leafs, a team not known for its defensive prowess, played a tidy 200-foot game, limiting the Bruins' Grade-A scoring chances and muting their top two scorers: Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

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"Your best players need to be your best players this time of year. I think the effort is tremendous. They need to come through with some big-time plays and big-time moments," said coach Jim Montgomery. "I think Marchand has done that in the series. Pasta needs to step up."

Pastrnak, who landed a team-high four shots, said having a shoot-first mentality is something that usually shakes him out of the doldrums.

"I'm going to shoot the puck," he said with a quick smile, when asked about his Game 7 strategy.

It's the second straight season the Bruins have lost a 3-1 series lead. The Panthers completed the comeback in 2023 with an overtime win at the Garden.

Montgomery was adamant that his team is not preoccupied by thoughts of last season's bitter ending.

"We're not living in the past [and] we're not living in the future, either. We're living in the present right now," the coach said. "We're not happy with our game. We're going to get ready for Game 7 starting tomorrow."

For the second straight game, the Bruins came out flat. Though they asserted themselves physically with some big hits from Pat Maroon, Charlie McAvoy, and Justin Brazeau, they struggled to generate the kind of consistent offensive attack they flashed through most of the first four games of the series.

Boston landed but one shot on Woll in the first, and that came while it was shorthanded.

"It's unacceptable; our start again," said Montgomery. "We've got to find a way to start on time and we've just got to be better. Toronto is 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."

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, landed a dozen shots on Jeremy Swayman in the first 20 minutes.

Swayman (24 saves) was dialed in early, despite being serenaded by exaggerated "Swayyyyymannn, Swayyyyymannn" chants.

Max Domi had the best of Toronto's chances, but Swayman smothered his wraparound attempt before Hampus Lindholm deposited Domi into the net. After the whistle Domi decked Marchand but skated away unscathed as referees Chris Rooney and Dan O'Rourke watched.

Swayman opened the second period with a nifty left pad save on Jake McCabe, moments before Pastrnak was hit with a high-sticking double minor for drawing blood on Tyler Bertuzzi.

The Bruins' penalty killers were on point during the entire 240 seconds, limiting the Leafs to a pair of harmless shots on Swayman.

Boston was buoyed by its shorthanded work and finally started getting some momentum and consistent offensive pressure on Woll.

They kept their physical work up, as well, though McAvoy's elbow to David Kampf's jaw left the Maple Leafs forward stunned and may prompt a call from the league office.

Boston had its best flurry over the final 10 minutes of the period, with the Pavel Zacha-Pastrnak-Jake DeBrusk trio landing a handful of shots.

Boston got its only power play when Woll tripped Johnny Beecher in the crease, but it couldn't cash in. The Bruins continued to carry the play, but a late icing call cost them.

John Tavares won the ensuing faceoff from Beecher and got the puck Nylander.

The crafty Torontonian winger danced around the top of the circle and then fired a wrister that deflected off McAvoy and past Swayman.

The goal snapped a 13-game drought for the All-Star Nylander, who missed the first three games of this series, reportedly because of a bout with migraines.

The goal came moments after Mason Lohrei was face-planted from behind into the glass, though Rooney saw fit to keep his whistle in his pocket.

The desperate Bruins kept up the pace in the third, but Woll, playing like a modern-day Ken Dryden, made a bevy of acrobatic saves.

Morgan Geekie finally got one past Woll, but it came with just one second left.

Despite the two-game skid and the inevitable comparisons to last year's collapse, the mood in the Boston dressing room was not one of gloom and doom. Instead, it was about looking ahead.

"We're here and it's an opportunity. We've got to be grateful for it. And these are the moments you dream about as a kid," said Marchand. "Game 7, that's where heroes are built and made, and I think we have to be excited about the position we're in and make the most of it."

Jim McBride can be reached at james.mcbride@globe.com. Follow him @globejimmcbride.