
It was a milestone evening for one Toronto Maple Leaf in their 4-3 win over the New York Rangers.
In the second period of Wednesday's game, Joseph Woll made a stop on Rangers forward Gabe Perreault, forcing the puck to go the other way. Dakota Joshua found Matias Maccelli, who eventually returned the puck to Joshua, and the 29-year-old wired a shot top shelf on Igor Shesterkin.
It was Joshua's 10th goal of the year. Maccelli's 23rd assist on the season.
Most importantly, though, Woll registered his first career NHL point with the secondary assist.
Did he get the puck, as per tradition, when a player registers their first point?
"I did not, no," Woll laughed. "I didn't even know I got an assist. I gotta rewatch it. I don't even know how it unfolded. I forget."
Woll had played 112 NHL games entering Wednesday against the Rangers. And in those games, he had never registered a single point. Woll never even recorded a point in 86 career games with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.
So this one had to be extra special.
"The lady (outside the dressing room) told me it was my first point. I'm like, 'Jesus, it's taken me long enough.'" Woll chuckled on Wednesday night. "Would've thought I would've gotten, like, something. Not a point guy."
Aside from the point, the Maple Leafs netminder stopped 40 of 43 shots from the Rangers, earning him his 15th win through 35 games this season. Woll also has a .906 save percentage in that span.
It hasn't always been the easiest of years for both Woll and Anthony Stolarz. However, the two appear to be trending upwards as the season approaches its end. Since Mar. 6, Woll has put up a .912 save percentage (12 games).
Anthony Stolarz has been stellar ever since the Olympic break ended, tallying two wins and a .919 save percentage in six starts.
While the season might be lost, the two netminders still want to end on a good note, in hopes that next year can go a whole lot differently.
"Our mindset is play as well as we can, right? And give our team a chance every night," Woll said. "And yeah, obviously, we both want to be here, and we want to win here."