Matthew Knies scored for the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime and forced a Game 6.

The Boston Bruins came into a clinching Game 5 on home ice and skated like it was an out-of-conference matchup in mid-February.

Tuesday night’s 2-1 overtime loss at TD Garden saw the Bruins wash away the opportunity to close out their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. They showed little fight to avoid a Game 6. Jeremy Swayman gave the sleep-walking team in front of him a chance, stopping 31 of 33 shots he faced, but Boston ultimately needed more from everyone.

“The hardest one to get is that last one,” Brad Marchand said Tuesday.

The first period was ugly. Toronto led 12-2 in shots on goal, was 80 percent from the faceoff dot and commanded the neutral zone. The Bruins were never able to set up a cycle in the O-zone, and got hemmed in their own end too often.

“We weren’t good enough. Simple as that,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Tuesday. “Toronto came out ready to play and took it to us. We weren’t ready to match their desperation.”

Jake McCabe gave the Leafs’ a 1-0 lead at 5:33 of the first period with a rocket from the point after Max Domi won the offensive-zone draw. The goal was an exclamation point on a punchy, passionate start from Toronto which put Boston on its heels early.

“We need to be better there. We needed better urgency,” Montgomery said. “We knew they were gonna come and compete hard and be prepared. We needed to be better, but it is what it is.”

A strong forecheck along the boards by Jesper Boqvist and Pat Maroon led to Trent Frederic’s net-front tally that tied the game 1-1 at 13:54. Frederic scored on the Bruins’ just second shot on goal of the period. The play marked the 26-year-old forward’s third goal of the series.

Tensions boiled over at the end of the middle frame, sending Marchand, Charlie Coyle and Toronto’s Joel Edmundson to the box for roughing with 22.1 seconds remaining in the period. The Leafs opened the third with 1:38 on the man advantage, but the Bruins killed it off.

Boston came inches away from snatching a third-period lead multiple times. Marchand whiffed on a look from the doorstep, and Frederic nearly potted his second of the night on a wrap-around that Joseph Woll staved away with his pad.

“Unfortunately we never really got it together throughout the game,” Marchand said.

The Bruins’ end-of-game effort proved not enough, and the bout headed to overtime in which the Leafs forced Game 6 and brought the series to a 3-2 standing. Matthew Knies sealed it at 2:26 after he was left uncovered with Charlie McAvoy and Coyle facing their own net. The rookie knocked John Tavares’ pass past Swayman for his second goal of the postseason.

The Bruins have been in this spot before. They talked about growing from last year’s 3-1 collapse against the Florida Panthers, but any lessons learned were not on display in Tuesday’s Game 5. However, it’s a different team that had a different regular season and, seemingly, has a different mindset now when it comes to rebounding.

“We’ve been really good at staying in the moment,” Marchand said. “We’ve been really good at sticking together and getting back and going to work and going through adversity. You have to be able to go through that at this time of the year.”

There was no one more confident in his team’s ability to put together a resounding response in Game 6 than Swayman. The goaltender started his third consecutive game of the series Tuesday, and has a 1.49 goals against average and .952 save percentage through the four total starts this playoffs.

“I think we saw an opportunity that we missed, and we’re not gonna let that happen again,” Swayman said. “Motivation is completely internal and it’s contagious in this locker room. We’ll be a different team come Thursday.”

The Bruins will be back in Toronto Thursday for Game 6 at Scotiabank Arena with another chance to secure their slotting in the second round. The time of puck drop has yet to be determined. 

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