Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll makes a save during Game 5 against the Boston Bruins, in Boston, on April 30.Bob DeChiara/Reuters
Joseph Woll knew he wasn’t getting the nod for Game 1 of the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs had clearly been trending towards Ilya Samsonov late in the regular season, including a week of rest for the goaltender ahead of the Stanley Cup chase.
Woll didn’t pout or show any disappointment at getting passed over. He simply kept his head down and continued on the same regimented path.
“It was really obvious to me that he was going to just continue to work,” Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of the rookie. “And prepare as though he was playing.”
Woll got that chance in a hostile environment Tuesday with his team facing elimination – a situation he experienced some 12 months ago.
The calm, 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 centre spot with Auston Matthews unavailable, said of the netminder. “He’s been sitting around for a while. Shows how mature he is and the presence that he brings when 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 NHL playoff action in last spring’s second round after Samsonov was injured against the Florida Panthers. He made three appearances in that series, including a victory in Game 4 on the road before Toronto lost Game 5 in OT at home.
“That experience last year definitely helped,” said Woll, who made a huge third-period stop on former junior teammate Trent Frederic 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 victory in an elimination game 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 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 they took 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 goalie 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. “A place I’ve 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 after returning to action Feb. 29 – 4-6-0 with an .890 save percentage as Toronto leaned on Samsonov down the stretch – but the process and routine remained the same.
“He works really hard,” Keefe said. “He fought through a tough injury that derailed what was a tremendous season to that point.
“But he stayed with it.”
And now his Leafs have a pulse.