To be successful in the Stanley Cup playoffs, a team must receive contributions from unlikely sources. Right now, no team is getting more out of less than the bruised and battered Toronto Maple Leafs, who are winning playoff games with names like Karel Pilar, Alex Ponikarovsky and Paul Healey on the lineup card.

On Wednesday night, the Leafs edged the Senators, 2-1, in front of a mostly-hostile sellout crowd at the Corel Centre. The victory evened the "Battle of Ontario" Eastern Conference semifinals at two games, with Game 5 in Toronto on Friday.

Toronto's latest unlikely hero was center Alyn McCauley, who netted both goals in the win. During the season, McCauley was a fourth-liner who killed penalties. But, when star first-line center and captain Mats Sundin went down with a broken wrist in the first round, coach Pat Quinn moved McCauley to the front of the class.

McCauley, who'll turn 25 on May 29, responded with a strong two-way game. He's battled hard in every area of the ice and -- unlike teammates like Darcy Tucker and Shayne Corson -- he hasn't resorted to cheap shots or constant whining to get the job done.

In Game 4, McCauley's willingness to drive to the net proved to be the difference for the Leafs.

Down 1-0 in the second period, Toronto veteran left winger Gary Roberts (who has been a force throughout the playoffs despite several nagging injuries) caught a perfect aerial pass from Pilar and ripped a shot at Sens goalie Patrick Lalime. The goaltender made the save with his left pad, but he kicked a juicy rebound into the slot. McCauley, fighting off physical Sens defenseman Shane Hnidy, found the loose puck and chipped a forehand into the open cage.

Then, with less than three minutes remaining in the period and the Senators' forward Chris Neil serving a penalty for holding the stick, McCauley struck again.

The Leafs sickley power-play unit (0-11 in the series at that point) worked the puck to Roberts behind the net. The lefty-shooting Leaf came out from behind the net on his forehand and tried to stuff the puck under Lalime. Again, the goalie stopped Roberts, but he couldn't control the puck. And, to make matters worse, Lalime had his stick knocked out of his hand by teammate Wade Redden.

As Roberts attempted his shot, McCauley came off the left wing boards and drove to the net. He fought through a weak hook from Sens leaf winger Magnus Arvedson, then found a path to the crease between the other three penalty killers (Mike Fisher, Zdeno Chara and Redden).

Once there, he spotted the little black biscuit sitting in the small patch of blue ice. Without hesitating, McCauley made a backhand swipe at the puck, chipping it into the cage.

Credit McCauley for going into a dangerous area of the ice to convert a rebound. Blame the Senators for not doing a better job of keeping him out of there.

With Curtis Joseph stopping the puck and Travis Green securing possession with one face-off win after another (Green finished 21-5 on the draw), the Leafs made the goal stand up.

For McCauley, the unlikely hero, it was the first two-goal game of his injury-plagued five-year career. For the bruised, battered, but far from dead Leafs, it came at just the right time. And for the Senators, it might have been an omen of things to come.

E.J. Hradek writes hockey for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ej.hradek@espnmag.com.