Woll makes 30 saves in return, Maple Leafs hand Coyotes 14th straight loss

TORONTO -- Joseph Woll made 30 saves in his return from injury for the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 4-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday.

Woll played for the first time after missing 35 games with a high ankle sprain sustained Dec. 7. He got his first win since Nov. 30.

“It was awesome,” Woll said. “It’s been a few months. I’ve really been missing playing and to be able to play at our home building and to get a win like that was pretty nice.

“I felt good, I’ve had some practices to get back up to speed so I felt like I fit right back in.”

William Nylander had a goal and had two assists, extending his point streak to nine games, and Auston Matthews scored his NHL-leading 53rd goal for the Maple Leafs (34-17-8), who are 8-1-0 in their past nine games. Tyler Bertuzzi scored for the third straight game, and Matthew Knies had a goal and an assist.

“I mean it was probably more of an ugly win than anything,” Matthews said. “But it’s hard to get wins especially at this time of year as the season is in the back last quarter, games are tighter, games are tough and these points are very important, so we will take it, move on and try and clean up the things that weren’t as good.”

The Maple Leafs defeated the Coyotes at home in regulation for the first time since Oct. 17, 2002 (0-10-2), which was the day Knies, 21, was born.

“I had no idea,” Knies said. “That’s quite a long time. I feel pretty old, that’s pretty incredible. That’s a huge coincidence.”

Alex Kerfoot and Logan Cooley scored, and Connor Ingram made 22 saves for the Coyotes (23-31-5), who lost their 14th straight game (0-12-2).

“That’s a positive for us, our guys never quit,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “We have a good group that way, they never quit. Disappointing the way we started the game, I think we were stubborn, we knew how to play, what we had to exploit, and we didn’t start the right way and that gave them chances and opportunities and some momentum. I think during the game we got better, and we had more success.”

Knies put the Maple Leafs up 1-0 at 13:04 of the first period. Mitchell Marner intercepted a pass at the defensive blue line, then on the breakaway left a between-the-legs drop pass for Knies at the top of the goal crease for a tap-in.

“At no point [did I think it was coming to me] honestly,” Knies said. “I was screaming at him to take it on his own. That was a pretty incredible play, and I was pretty lucky to tap that in right in the slot.

“I kind of made eye contact with him but I told him to take it, so I didn’t know he was going to go against my word like that, but he’s got a pretty good hockey brain on him.”

Bertuzzi made it 2-0 at 1:05 of the second period when he deflected William Lagesson’s point shot between Ingram’s pads in the slot. It was his fifth goal during his streak.

Matthews ended a two-game goal drought at 13:12 to make it 3-0 when he took a pass from Nylander and shot high-glove from the slot.

Kerfoot, who was playing his first game in Toronto since signing a two-year contract with Arizona on July 1, 2023, cut it to 3-1 at 14:39 when he intercepted a pass in the defensive zone and scored on a breakaway. Kerfoot played 285 games with the Maple Leafs from 2019-23.

Cooley made it 3-2 at 9:52 of the third period when he put in a rebound on the goal line after Matias Maccelli hit the goal post.

Nylander scored into an empty net at 19:00 for the 4-2 final. He has 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) during his streak.

Arizona outshot Toronto 13-4 in the third period.

“It’s another one of those games like the ones we’ve had in the last couple games here where it feels like we are dominating the majority of the game,” Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien said. “I felt like we dominated the third period, we had so many chances, guys were battling and working hard, making big defensive plays, blocking shots. You just have to just go in tomorrow (at the Ottawa Senators) with the same mindset that it’s going to happen, that we are going to win.”

NOTES: Maple Leafs defenseman Mark Giordano left the game at 10:48 of the first period after hitting his head on the boards after a diving redirection at the top of the goal crease that Ingram stopped with his right pad. Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed it was a head injury but had no further update. … Keefe won his 200th NHL game. He is 200-88-38 in 326 games, making him the fastest Maple Leafs coach to reach the mark. He passed Pat Quinn (383 games). ... Toronto acquired defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday in a three-team trade also involving the Carolina Hurricanes. It will be the second stint in Toronto for Lyubushkin; the 29-year-old played 31 games for Maple Leafs in the 2021-22 season.