Despite the Maple Leafs extending their winless streak to five games, goaltender Joseph Woll was the lone bright spot, returning to form with a brilliant 29-save performance in a tough loss to the Blackhawks.
CHICAGO — Joseph Woll showed no rust after a month away from the team. The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender made 29 saves on 32 shots, most of them of high difficulty, as the Chicago Blackhawks traded Grade-A chances all night at the United Center in a 3-2 regulation loss.
"It's a mix of probably every different emotion," Woll said after the game. "A little nervous, a little excited. But just being out there on that sheet was pretty cool".
Woll departed the team for personal reasons early in training camp. The goaltender returned to the club in late October but spent some time with the Toronto Marlies on a conditioning stint. His return couldn’t have come soon enough; Anthony Stolarz had played in 13 of the 18 games Woll was unavailable. Dennis Hildeby made four straight appearances in goal in a span that saw Stolarz sustain an upper-body injury.
I Don’t Want To Create Any Distractions”: Maple Leafs Goalie Joseph Woll Speaks Publicly for First Time Since Personal Leave
Despite setting firm boundaries about discussing his recent time away, goaltender Joseph Woll expressed immense gratitude for the support he received and confirmed he is eagerly ready for game action via a conditioning assignment with the Marlies.
“I thought the positive for me tonight was seeing 60 back in there,” McCabe said of Woll. “I thought he did a phenomenal job. I just told him that. Super good seeing him back in there and grinding and battling. He was composed all night. He played great with the puck. So that gives me a lot of joy, you know, just seeing him doing his thing up there. It was awesome”.
The Leafs extended their winless streak to five games, their longest such span since April of 2021. In that previous instance, it happened late and didn’t jeopardize Toronto’s chances of winning the ‘North’ Division in the Covid-impacted 56-game season.\
Assessing Joseph Woll’s Conditioning Stint And How Soon He May Be Back With The Maple Leafs
Woll stopped 25 of 28 shots in his second game of a conditioning loan with the Marlies on Wednesday afternoon.
These are different circumstances, and if they can hang on to anything, it’s that they have part of their goaltending tandem back and he didn’t miss a beat.
“I thought Joe was outstanding,” Morgan Rielly said. “Obviously amazing to have him back, and he looks like himself. And so we’re all extremely happy to have him back. I thought he played really well for us”.
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