FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla -- Joseph Woll’s experience in these Stanley Cup Playoffs can be described as a mixture of wacky, wild, weird and, at times, wobbly.
What it hasn’t been is consistent.
It’s something the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie will have to work through if he wants to lead them on a deeper run, given that it doesn’t seem as though Anthony Stolarz will be returning in the near future.
Asked Saturday morning for an update on Toronto’s No. 1 goalie, coach Craig Berube said, “He’s progressing in the right direction. He hasn’t skated yet.”
In other words, the Maple Leafs net belongs to Woll for now, continuing with Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TBS, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Stolarz was Toronto’s starting goalie in its six-game elimination of the Ottawa Senators in the first round and looked to be in a groove heading into this best-of-7 series against the Panthers. But midway through Game 1 on Monday, he skated to the bench during a second-period TV timeout and began vomiting, leading to him leaving Scotiabank Arena on a stretcher one period later and spending time at a hospital for evaluation.
The 31-year-old was subsequently released and joined his teammates at their practice facility Tuesday. But Stolarz has yet to resume on-ice hockey activities and remained behind in Toronto when the series shifted to Florida for Games 3 and 4.
With Stolarz still out, Toronto’s fate rests with Woll.
The 26-year-old has played all 165:13 since replacing Stolarz midway through the second period of the series opener, with mixed results. He played well enough to help the Maple Leafs win the first two games before the Panthers rebounded with a 5-4 overtime win in Game 3 on Friday, narrowing Toronto’s series lead to 2-1.
In the process, it’s been a roller-coaster ride.
On one hand, Woll has allowed 11 goals on 84 shots for a goals-against average of 3.99, which ranks 18th among goalies who have made a minimum two starts in the playoffs thus far. Using that same criteria, his save percentage of .869 ranks 17th.
On the other, he’s been on the wrong end of some freakish bounces. Two of the goals that got past him in Game 3, for example, deflected in off teammate Morgan Rielly, including the OT shot from notable Maple Leafs nemesis Brad Marchand.
It’s truly been a tale of the good, the bad and the volatile.
“The difference you see is just a bounce one way,” Woll said after Game 3. “That’s the way playoff games go. So, just going to reset and get ready for the next one.”
One area the Panthers have started to exploit relates to Woll’s puck-handling abilities, which are not as refined as those of Stolarz.
As Berube pointed out, Florida has increasingly reverted to slapping dump-ins that are off the ice when they rim the boards, making it difficult for Woll to corral pucks behind the net. On several occasions in Game 3 he mishandled pucks in those situations, leading to direct scoring chances.
“A lot of those rims, they’re up, they’re not on the ice, and that’s by design,” Berube said. “If they can get a good lick on it, they’re going to put it off the glass, and it’s pretty tough for him to come out and play those.
“We’re going to have to move it quick.”
Toronto could be in a precarious position in goal should Woll get sustain an injury. Stolarz already is out, and veteran Matt Murray could not serve as the No. 2 goalie on Friday because of what Berube described as “illness.” That left rookie Dennis Hildeby, with only six career NHL appearances (all during the regular season), as the backup, a scenario which could repeat itself moving forward.
Toronto already has scored 13 times against Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky through the first three games of this series, three more than it managed in five games against him in the 2023 second-round series that Florida won 4-1. Even with that, Bobrovsky shone in overtime of Game 3, highlighted by breakaway stops against William Nylander and Matthew Knies.
The Maple Leafs offense certainly has done its job in this series, averaging almost five goals per game. Given Bobrovsky’s pedigree, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to keep up that pace.
As such, the onus will fall on Woll to play a stingier game at the other end.
It will be intriguing to see if he can do just that.
