If there was anyone who needed a good showing against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday night, it was Joseph Woll.
His lone start beforehand was a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues – one that saw Woll surrender two goals 10 minutes in. So, after all the injury issues he’s had – not only throughout his pro career but since the Stanley Cup playoffs in April – Woll needed a big effort to help keep the confidence alive, especially with Anthony Stolarz playing as well as he has been.
Mission accomplished.
The Maple Leafs won the game 4-1, with a goal late in the first and early in the second giving the boys in blue and white some serious momentum. Woll became the third goaltender to win for the Leafs in the opening month, marking his first regular-season win in 205 days.
The first period was uneventful with few notable chances to show for. He stopped all 12 shots sent his way, but he didn’t have to work too hard on them. But after the ugly opening frame against the Blues, it was exactly what the doctor ordered. Woll kept it strong with another perfect second period as Toronto continued to pad its advantage.
There was the odd time that Woll slid a little too far out of the crease and the Kraken couldn’t capitalize, but from an overall style perspective, Woll looked up to par throughout most of the night. He seemed to get more relaxed as the game wore on, and while there were stretches where nothing was happening, he made sure to keep himself moving and fresh for whenever the Kraken went the other way.
Leafs win 4-1! A solid effort all around helps Joseph Woll get his first victory of the season!
Next up is a rematch against the Blues on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/FsazqWT1ly
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) November 1, 2024
The Leafs did a good job of shutting things down in the second, a frame that saw the Kraken seemingly quiet themselves to a crawl. It definitely felt like a midweek game in late October, if you know what we mean. The Kraken got a late goal with under four minutes to go, but it didn’t help that the Leafs tried to get too fancy at the other end instead of firing an empty-netter in with less than five minutes to go.
Woll hasn’t played more than 30 games in a regular season since his days with the Toronto Marlies back in 2019-20. Injuries have plagued his career, preventing him from playing throughout most of October. Many pegged Woll to have the edge as No. 1 heading into the season, but starting on the sidelines didn’t help. Stolarz has been excellent, so they didn’t need to rush Woll.
But the Missouri native needed to prove he could get the job done. On Thursday, he succeeded, showing no signs of rust. Woll gave the Kraken little room to shoot at and, other than Nylander, was arguably Toronto’s best player in a game decided by goaltending. Even though he wasn’t busy in the third, he didn’t make a mistake and stayed planted in the crease. There wasn’t much he could have done differently on the Kraken goal – they took advantage of Toronto’s mistakes.
In all, Woll kept his rebounds down, had a goals-saved-above-expected of 0.24, and stopped every high-danger shot attempt. Woll looked great, just like we know he’s capable of. Not an overly difficult night, but one that had to feel good after the way it started last Thursday.
And thus, we’ll see how many starts Woll gets over the next bit. You don’t want to sit Stolarz too much while he’s thriving, but you need Woll to get consistent game action, too. It’ll be an interesting balancing act for coach Craig Berube – but something that, if done right, will make this team even more dangerous in the net.
A rematch against the Blues – in his home state – could be what gets Woll’s season back in gear.
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