After the Toronto Maple Leafs’ desperation-fuelled, 2-0 Game 6 victory over the Florida Panthers Friday night, the second-round series is tied at three games apiece.
While this series began with Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll sitting on the bench as backup to Anthony Stolarz, Woll’s rollercoaster ride as a starter has crested to a high after his shutout in Game 6. And even if the injured Stolarz is cleared to play Saturday or Sunday, Woll should be ‘The Man’ and the starter for Game 7 as the Leafs try to eliminate the Panthers.
Things weren’t looking nearly so good for Woll after a Game 5 performance that saw him pulled after surrendering five goals on 25 Panthers shots in Florida’s eventual 6-1 win that put the Leafs on the brink of elimination. But in Game 6, Toronto’s defenders limited the Panthers mostly to the outside areas of the defensive zone, and Woll did the rest, turning aside all 22 shots he saw for his first career playoff shutout. While Stolarz was the choice of coach Craig Berube to begin the series, Woll has now done enough to be stuck with in a winner-takes-all seventh game.
Of course, if Stolarz is healthy and Woll lets in a couple of softies at the start of Game 7, you could definitely see Berube giving Woll a short leash and yanking Woll if need be. But as it stands, Woll has earned the confidence of his coach and teammates, and if he can give Leafs skaters a chance to strike early and swing momentum their way, Woll will do all that’s asked of him.
Indeed, although he has lost two of his last three games in this series, in two of those three games, Woll has posted a save percentage of .946 or higher. And we’d argue he’s performed better than Panthers counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky, the $10-million-per-season star goalie who has put up a .882 SP or worse in four of the six games in this series. Woll has battled through some rough spots and needed a bit of puck luck to preserve his shutout in Game 6, but show us a perfect goalie, and we’ll show you that you’re dreaming in technicolor.
At 26 years old, Woll is still approaching his prime. But if he can shepherd Toronto through its Game 7 challenge and push his team into an Eastern Conference final appearance against the Carolina Hurricanes, Woll will have carved out a special place for himself in Leafs history. Toronto has a chance to do something special Sunday, but they’ll need Woll to hold up his end of the bargain – and if Game 6 is any indication, Woll has the technical and mental ability to do it.
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