From Absolute Dud to Total Stud: The Joseph Woll Story

The Toronto Maple Leafs, and Joseph Woll, won again last night, utilizing the swagger that gets built into a winning streak to overcome one of their worst games and get a win despite a so-so overall performance.

Due to all the recent winning, I highly doubt the Toronto Maple Leafs will care too much that they took the third period off once they secured a victory for themselves and apparent new superstar Joseph Woll.

The Leafs were winning 4-1 after the second period, so in the third maybe they just decided to see how good Joseph Woll could be.

The answer was pretty damn good.  Woll was very impressive as his team took the third period off, at one point saving – I think – six shots in a row over like a 30 second span. (  stats from naturalstattrick.com).

Toronto Maple Leafs, Joseph Woll and Winning Streaks

After his shut-out in Long Island on Sunday, it was a very impressive performance for a guy who we are still not sure how he ended up in the NHL.   Seriously – based on Woll’s statistical performance in the last three years, I think I may just end up in the NHL too.

In the last three seasons Joseph Woll hasn’t even played 50 games in total, and in the games he has played he has a GAA over  3.50 and a save percentage in the .880’s.  It isn’t exactly the resume that screams NHL GOALIE, let alone a 3-0 record with the NHL’s best team, a 1.67 GAA and a .939 save percentage (with one shutout).

Did I say NHL’s best team?  I sure did!

With the win, the Toronto Maple Leafs pulled even with the Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals in a four-way tie for first.  Now of course the Leafs have played the most games, so technically, they are in fourth place, but I’ll take it.

Also, this:

Despite being in a tie for first place in Expected Goals Percentage, the Toronto Maple Leafs are ranked last in how many goals they’ve actually scored vs how many they should have scored.

The Leafs goaltending is carrying them right now, but the impressive thing is that they continue to win without capitalizing on their biggest strength.  This bodes well for them staying at the top of the standings.

Finally, before I go, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the Leafs power-play last night.  The Leafs didn’t get their first PP until the second period, and then, in a minute and 41 seconds that we’ve been waiting years to see, they showed just how incredible they can be.

Nine shot-attempts, four shots, and seven scoring chances occurred before John Tavares scored.

It was a nice reminder of what this offense can do, and it hints that this team is just getting started.  The Toronto Maple Leafs have now won three games in a row, and eight of their last nine. More impressively, they’ve won 13 of 15.