Achi news desk-
BOSTON – Joseph Woll knew he wasn’t getting a goal for Game 1 of the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had clearly been leaning toward Ilya Samsonov late in the regular season, including a week of rest for the goaltender before pursuing the Stanley Cup.
Woll showed no disappointment at being passed. He simply kept his head down and continued on the same regimented path.
“It was very clear to me that he wanted to keep working,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the rookie. “And prepare as if he were playing.”
Woll got that chance in a hostile environment on Tuesday with his team facing elimination – a situation he experienced around 12 months ago.
The quiet, cool 25-year-old didn’t flinch. Now the Leafs have life.
Woll made 27 saves in his first start in more than two weeks in Toronto’s 2-1 overtime victory that cut the Boston Bruins’ lead to 3-2 in the teams’ best-of-seven series.
“He’s unbelievable,” Leafs forward Max Domi, who stepped into the No. 1 center position with Auston Matthews unavailable, said of the netminder. “It’s been sitting around for a while. It shows how mature he is and the presence he brings as he steps in between the pipes.”
Game 6 of the first round matchup goes Thursday in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena. Game 7, if necessary, would be Saturday back at Boston’s TD Garden.
Woll got a taste of the NHL playoffs in the second round last spring after Samsonov was injured against the Florida Panthers. He made three appearances in that series, including a Game 4 win on the road before Toronto lost Game 5 in OT at home.
“That experience last year definitely helped,” said Woll, who stopped former junior teammate Trent Frederic in the third period before adding five more saves in Tuesday’s extra period. “I felt more comfortable coming into the situation. Each time you get a little more experience, and you learn from your mistakes.”
Woll’s second career elimination game victory tied him with Gord McRae, Felix Potvin and John Ross Roach for the most by a rookie in franchise history.
“I feel pretty safe when he’s in the net,” fellow freshman Matthew Knies said after scoring Tuesday’s winner at 2:26 of OT. “I trust him a lot.”
Drafted by the Leafs in the third round of the 2016 draft – the same year as Matthews with the No. 1 pick – Woll spent three seasons at Boston College in the NCAA before turning pro and signing with Toronto in 2019.
Despite being in enemy territory Tuesday at TD Garden, the piano-playing goaltender felt at home on a sheet of ice he knows well.
“I’m having the time of my life out there,” said Woll, who grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Dardenne Prairie. “Where I have played a lot of big games. To come in here and play the Bruins in an elimination game is pretty special.”
Woll started 2023-24 strong with an 8-5-1 record and a .916 save percentage before suffering a high ankle sprain that sidelined him exactly 12 weeks.
His numbers weren’t nearly as good upon his return to action on February 29 – 4-6-0 with an .890 save percentage as Toronto pressed Samsonov down the stretch – but the process and routine remained the same.
“He works very hard,” Keefe said. “He battled through a tough injury that put a damper on a tremendous season to that point.
“But he stayed.”
And now there is a beat for his Leaves.
DOMI STEPS UP
Tie’s son Domi — a fan favorite in Toronto from 1995 to 2006 — filled some huge shoes with Matthews ruled out Tuesday after also being pulled from Game 4 with an illness.
The 29-year-old helped Domi set up the Leafs’ first goal, played nearly 19 minutes between Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi, and won 12-of-14 playoff games.
“(Domi) did a really good job of making sure that line didn’t have to spend a lot of time in our end,” Keefe said. “We have to start for the game to start with a pre-check, we have to start with work and compete. That’s the playoffs. That’s what this series certainly demands.
“Credit to Max.”
A SEED OF DOUBT
Boston led 3-1 against Florida in last year’s opening round before losing in seven games. The Leafs still have a mountain to climb, but they forced the Bruins to take a flight Wednesday that they had hoped to avoid.
“As hard as this one (Tuesday) was, the next one is going to be even harder,” Keefe said. “You got their attention.”
Toronto will look for its first playoff win at Scotiabank Arena since Game 2 of last year’s series against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday – a stretch of seven straight losses.
“Hasn’t been good on home ice,” Keefe said. “We’ve earned ourselves another chance to fix that.”
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