Woll to start for Maple Leafs in Game 4 at Panthers in Eastern 2nd Round

SUNRISE, Fla. --The future is now for Joseph Woll.

The 24-year-old, projected as the Toronto Maple Leafs' goalie of the future, has been fast-tracked into the role of helping them prolong a playoff run that is precariously close to ending.

With No. 1 goalie Ilya Samsonov day to day with an upper-body injury, Woll will start Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS).

"Joe will go," Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said following practice Tuesday. "As I've been maintaining, lots of confidence in him. Excited for him to have this opportunity."

WIth the Maple Leafs trailing the best-of-7 series 3-0, there is no margin for error; the fact Toronto is turning to a rookie to save its season, or keep it going for at least another game, shows the trust the Maple Leafs have that the moment won't be too big, too overwhelming, too nerve-wracking for him.

Woll said he certainly doesn't think it will be.

"It's awesome," Woll said of the support he has received from the coaching staff. "I hope the team has as much faith in me as I have in them.

"One thing I've learned is that it's awesome to have external support but what really is important is the internal stuff. I have all the faith in the world. My goal is to play like that."

If Woll is as composed on the ice as he was dealing with the media Tuesday, he has made significant strides in the pursuit of that goal.

RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs. Panthers series coverage]

While teammates like center Auston Matthews and forwards Mitchell Marner and William Nylander were in other parts of the dressing room answering questions about facing pressure in a do-or-die game and why the three of them, along with captain John Tavares, haven't yet scored in the series, Woll had the unflappable focus of a veteran far beyond his years.

Here's an example.

At one point he was asked what the previous biggest game of his life was. This one, after all, will trump them alI.

He shrugged his shoulders. Now, he said, isn't the time to look back at such things.

"I don't honestly know," he said. "It's another hockey game. I'm going to approach it the same way as any game I've ever played.

"Right now it's straight ahead. I think there's time for reflection. I don't think that time is now. I think the time right now is to trust everything I've done and everything this team has done. As long as I trust that and have some faith, I think anything's possible here."

Woll entered Game 3 after Samsonov was injured in a collision with teammate Luke Schenn just 37 seconds into the second period, and allowed three goals on 21 shots. It was Woll's second Stanley Cup Playoff game; he allowed one goal on five shots in relief of Samsonov in a 7-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round.

Keefe said there was no consideration to start Matt Murray, who last played April 2 because of a head injury and is expected to be Woll's backup. Murray helped the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 but the fact he didn't even enter the conversation about starting Game 4 is a telling sign of what the organization believes about its goaltending situation moving forward.

Selected by Toronto in the third round (No. 62) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Woll is 9-2-0 with a 2.38 goals-against average, .924 save percentage and one shutout in 11 NHL games.

Only four teams in NHL history have come back from down 3-0 in a best-of-7 series: the Maple Leafs against the Detroit Red Wings in the 1942 Stanley Cup Final, the New York Islanders against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals, the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference Semifinals and the Los Angeles Kings against the San Jose Sharks in the 2014 Western Conference First Round.

It will be up to Woll to keep Toronto's season going, a challenge he's embracing.

"I think being around this team, not only do we have a good group of guys on the ice, that speaks for itself, I think it's a special group of human beings," he said. "I think the biggest thing right now is belief. I certainly believe we have the group of people to do this. And I have a lot of belief in myself as well. I hope if I get a chance to help this team, that I can help instil belief.

"I think I've had a good mindset of what I want to pursue in my life, what's important to me. And when I have that, when I have my groundwork, it's easy to see everything that happens in life it brings you closer to that.

"I'm just happy to be where I am."