Can Joseph Woll continue to hold the fort in net?
Despite optimistic sound bites emerging from the Toronto Maple Leafs press conferences, it is highly unlikely that Anthony Stolarz will dress again this series. Even if deemed healthy enough to play, would the team want to take a chance on him being 100% in a do-or-die game?
Joseph Woll needs to play like he did in the Game 4, when he stopped 35 of 37 shots, many of those saves being highlight-reel worthy.
Woll, who is now 26 years old, appears to have developed the mental calm required for a goalie to shut out all distractions and focus solely on stopping pucks. However, goalies need game action in order to be sharp.
After not playing much over the final stretch of the regular season, Woll also watched the entire Ottawa series from the bench, as Anthony Stolarz backed the team to its first-round series win.
Unexpectedly called upon to replace the injured Stolarz in the midst of Game 1 against Florida, it took until Game 4 for Woll to look like he had reached peak form. Now that he’s there, the team seems confident he can maintain that level of effectiveness.
The one nagging concern in my mind is whether Woll can stay fully healthy for the rest of this series, and beyond, if the Toronto Maple Leafs advance. The Florida Panthers have a reputation for questionable plays, and have “accidentally” fallen into Woll several times already.
If Woll somehow gets injured, the next best goaltending option available to the Leafs is Matt Murray. As good of a teammate Murray may be, nobody wants to risk their Stanley Cup chances on Murray’s play at this stage of his career.