Woll Or Stolarz: Who Should Be In Net For The Maple Leafs In The Playoffs?

The Toronto Maple Leafs do not know who they will be playing if the playoffs were to start today. But regardless of the opponent, it appears they might finally have settled on a starting goalie for Game 1.

Joseph Woll, who made consecutive starts for the first time in more than a month, made 26 saves in a 6-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Monday. Two nights later, Woll stopped 38 of 39 shots in a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche.

In the process, Woll made an emphatic statement as to who should be in net when the playoffs begin next month.

“We’ll figure all that out,” said head coach Craig Berube, who refused to look too far ahead.

If Berube seems noncommittal, it’s because he has the luxury to be.

The Leafs are not in the same position as Florida or Tampa Bay or even Ottawa, who have a defined No. 1 goalie and a defined backup. As much as Woll has played lately — and as good as he’s been — the 26-year-old is still one part of a tandem with Anthony Stolarz, who at times has been even better.

In 35 starts this season, which is a career high, Woll is 24-12-0 with a 2.70 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage. Stolarz, who will get the start against the New York Rangers on Thursday night, is 13-8-3 with a 2.39 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. Combined, the tandem has the sixth-best save percentage in the league.

The problem with a tandem, of course, is that what works in the regular season rarely works in the playoffs. You can’t have both guys trading starts in a seven-game series. Not if you hope to have success.

The Leafs learned this the hard way last year, when Ilya Samsonov was in net for the first four games against the Bruins, before Woll took over with Toronto down 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. And though Woll won Games 5 and 6, an injury forced him out of Game 7, which Samsonov lost.

In other words, one guy has to take over the net. And the way it’s looking, it appears that Woll is making his case that he should be the one who gets the nod — at least for Game 1.

“He’s played excellent,” Berube said of Woll, who has won seven of his last nine starts and is on a three-game winning streak. “The last three games, he’s been really good.”

Against Colorado, which outshot Toronto 39-26, Woll had his hands full with one of the top offensive teams in the league. Woll stopped all six shots from NHL leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon, as well as another nine combined from Cale Makar, Martin Necas and Brock Nelson.

“He was excellent,” said Berube. “Made some real good saves, held us in there in the first period. I thought we were on our toes in the first period, We looked like we were a little bit tentative, not aggressive enough, watching them … that’s a very good team over there.

“Joseph Woll did what he had to do for us in net. He was very good.”

If he keeps playing this way, Woll should be the guy who Toronto leans on in the playoffs. And as long as he stays healthy — something that has plagued him so far in his career — he could be the goalie who finally gets the Leafs over the hump and past the first two rounds.