TORONTO – Joseph Woll is heading again underneath the post-season highlight.
It’s a spot the Maple Leafs goaltender has thrived previously.
Woll will get the beginning for Toronto in Sport 2 of the workforce’s second-round Stanley Cup playoff sequence with the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night time.
The 26-year-old entered Monday’s opener halfway by way of the second interval after crease mate Anthony Stolarz took an elbow to the pinnacle from Sam Bennett.
“We’ve received quite a lot of confidence in him,” Leafs captain Auston Matthews mentioned Wednesday mentioned of Woll. “He’s extraordinarily targeted, does all the best issues.”
Head coach Craig Berube left the door open for Stolarz to play in Sport 2 on Tuesday, however informed reporters at Scotiabank Area following Toronto’s morning skate the 31-year-old is “recovering” and “doing properly.”
Veteran netminder Matt Murray, who spent most of this season within the American Hockey League, will function Woll’s backup over Dennis Hildeby. The rookie was on the bench within the third interval of Sport 1.
“Expertise, I feel, greater than something,” Berube mentioned of turning to Murray, a two-time Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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“He’s been there, executed it.”
The Panthers, in the meantime, could have defenceman Aaron Ekblad out there after he served a two-game suspension for a headshot on Tampa Bay Lightning ahead Brandon Hagel within the first spherical.
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“I used to be aiming for his chest and I caught him within the chin,” Ekblad mentioned in his first feedback because the incident that knocked Hagel out of the sequence. “I’m by no means out to harm anyone on the ice. It’s unlucky the way in which that the end result occurred.
“It’s what it’s and all of us transfer on.”
The 29-year-old chosen first total on the 2014 draft has had a stop-start second half of the season after getting suspended 20 video games for violating the NHL/NHL Gamers’ Affiliation coverage on performance-enhancing medicine.
Ekblad returned for Sport 3 of the Tampa sequence earlier than the Hagel incident in Sport 4 that led to his most-recent ban.
“Whirlwind of a season,” he mentioned. “It’s not the way in which I scripted it, however we’re right here now. We’re within the playoffs. It’s an ideal alternative to proceed enjoying hockey.”
Woll was stable off the bench and held the fort late in a nail-biting 5-4 victory Monday for Toronto, stopping 17-of-20 pictures because the guests pushed after trailing 4-1 by way of 40 minutes.
“It’s not straightforward to get simply thrown into hearth like that,” Matthews mentioned. “He’ll be ready and able to go. A variety of confidence in him.”
Stolarz, who additionally took a shot off his masks early in Sport 1, was briefly in a position to proceed following the collision with Bennett — a bruising centre and former teammate from final season’s Cup-hoisting Panthers roster — earlier than he vomited into Toronto’s bench a couple of minutes later and headed to the locker room.
Stolarz was then transported to a neighborhood hospital for analysis, however was again together with his teammates Tuesday morning on the Leafs’ observe facility.
Woll has a stable .910 save proportion in 78 profession regular-season video games. His numbers within the post-season are even higher. The netminder from suburban St. Louis has stopped 113 of 119 pictures in 4 profession playoff begins for a .950 save proportion.
The 62nd choose on the 2016 NHL draft — the identical 12 months Toronto took Matthews at No. 1 — helped the Leafs stave off second-round elimination down 3-0 to Florida in 2023 after Ilya Samsonov went down harm earlier than making 40 stops in a 3-2 time beyond regulation loss in Sport 5.
Woll began Sport 5 in final spring’s opening spherical in opposition to the Boston Bruins when Samsonov was once more sidelined. He allowed two objectives on 59 mixed pictures over the subsequent two contests to assist the Leafs power Sport 7, however was felled by a again difficulty and was unable play within the sequence finale Toronto dropped 2-1 in OT.
“He’s simply mentally very resilient, very robust,” Matthews mentioned. “Nothing actually essentially will get to him.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Might 7, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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