TORONTO -- One moment Joseph Woll was sitting on the Toronto Maple Leafs' bench as the team’s backup goalie, having not played an NHL game since April 17.
The next, he was being thrust into the spotlight of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Florida Panthers on Monday, a role he might be occupying in the coming days, if not longer.
In a matter of seconds, Woll went from being an afterthought in this best-of-7 series to perhaps the key cog in the Maple Leafs’ Stanley Cup hopes. Such is the roller-coaster ride that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs
“You go from kind of chilling to being in the front line of action,” Woll said after the Maple Leafs’ 5-4 victory at Scotiabank Arena. “I’ve been trying to do my best and stay prepared and be ready for moments like this.”
Imagine the emotions running through him midway through the second period.
There he was, sitting and cheering on Anthony Stolarz, his goalie partner who had played every minute for the Maple Leafs in the first round, when they eliminated the Ottawa Senators in six games.
Now, Stolarz was facing the same Panthers team that he’d won a Stanley Cup with as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup last season. And there was no bigger cheerleader for him than Woll, who battled Stolarz for the starting job all season and was the epitome of class when he was beaten out for the No. 1 spot down the stretch.
Then, midway through the second period, everything changed.
About three minutes after being bumped by Panthers forward Sam Bennett, an ailing Stolarz came to the Maple Leafs' bench and began vomiting. It was clear at that point that he no longer could continue, meaning Woll would be coming in in relief.
“You kind of feel a mix of things, between concern for him and getting ready to play yourself,” Woll said. “I mean, when you see your teammate go down like that, I mean, it’s not good when you see him go down on the ice or when he’s not feeling good coming to the bench.
“You know, these guys are trying to create a family atmosphere here in [the dressing room]. So, it’s just like one of my family members.”
At the same time, Woll knew he had a job to do. The Maple Leafs had a 4-1 lead at the time, but no one in the building felt comfortable with that, least of all the Toronto players. These, after all, were the defending Stanley Cup champions for a reason.
In the end, Woll would go on to stop 17 of the 20 shots he faced in his 29:46 of ice time. More importantly, despite being beaten three times in the third period, he made enough saves to preserve the win, although not without some white-knuckle moments down the stretch.
With Stolarz’s status up in the air, there’s a distinct possibility that the Maple Leafs will have to ride Woll’s goaltending for the near future, if not longer. If that proves to be the case, there is no shortage of confidence among his teammates that he can get the job done.
“We all have all the faith in the world in Joe,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “You don’t want to see anyone leave the game, but we have faith in our depth and our guys.
“I thought Joe came in and played well.”
Forward Matthew Knies, who scored the goal that ended up being the game-winner, agreed.
“It’s no shock to the guys in the locker room how he can step in and bring us a win,” Knies said. “I mean, he’s been an incredible goalie for us. He’s stepped up every time we’ve asked him to.
“He’s done a great job, and it’s not shocking to me at all.”
Woll was 27-14-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in 42 games during the regular season. He had a career playoff record of 3-2 with a 1.78 GAA and .933 save percentage prior to Monday.
One aspect of the series that Woll needs to prepare for is the Panthers’ penchant for getting traffic around the crease. To that end, he received his initiation in the third period when Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues appeared to get tangled with a Toronto defenseman and ended up knocking the Toronto goalie down.
“I expect those things in playoffs,” he said. “I think every team makes a point to crash the net. And my job is to stop pucks, not to get into anything like that.
“So, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Given the uncertainty of the Stolarz situation, the Maple Leafs could be counting on Woll to do just that.