Joseph Woll's Heroics: 'It's Like A Calmness Because We Know We Can Trust Him' - Maple Leafs Secure Win Against Islanders

ELMONT, N.Y. — The New York Islanders didn't pepper the Toronto Maple Leafs with shots in the opening 20 minutes, but their opportunities were of a Grade-A caliber.

When the Islanders came, Joseph Woll was ready.

First it was an uncontested slot shot from Islanders captain Anders Lee. Woll confidently made the glove save.

Later, an odd-man rush left a chance for Islanders forward Bo Horvat. Woll turned it aside.

And maybe the biggest save of them all... John Tavares, attempted to clear the puck out of Toronto's zone but inadvertently passed i to Islanders forward Mathew Barzal in front of the net.

Woll shut the door.

"We gave up some chances off of three odd-man rushes. And he was big. That's big for us to get the saves there," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of Woll.

Toronto's goaltender made 32 saves on 33 shots, and outside of Bobby McMann scoring both of the Maple Leafs goals in a 2-1 victory, he was the main reason they defeated the Islanders at UBS Arena on Thursday.

Since Anthony Stolarz went down on Dec. 14th with a knee issue that required a procedure to remove a loose body, Woll's performance in goal was crucial if they were going to withstand the loss of their top-performing netminder.

Related: Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Explains Why Anthony Stolarz Will Miss Roughly 4-6 Weeks For A Procedure On His Knee

After some initial bumps (both literally and figuratively), Woll has found a groove going 3-0-0 in his last three starts while posting a .955 save percentage and 1.33 goals against average. His goals saved above replacement in that span is 1.93, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Considering his last two games were decided by a goal (Toronto's 3-1 win against the Islanders at home two days prior included an empty-netter), Woll has been the difference, and his teammate could feel it.

Especially in that first period on Thursday night.

"It's like a different caliber of energy. It's like a calmness because we know we can trust him back there," McMann explained of Woll. "But it also is like, 'Okay, we've got to get going here because he's saving us right now, and we can get some in on the other side.'"

Before the game, Berube admitted now was the opportunity for Woll to go on a bit of a run. Toronto has just one set of back-to-back games in January (home games on Saturday against the Boston Bruins followed by the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday). Dennis Hildeby is likely to get one of those two games. But from there, there may be a lot of Woll going forward.

It's been over two weeks since Stolarz had the procedure and he has yet to take the ice. Managing Woll, who had been injured for a couple of weeks to start this season due to groin tightness, will be an interesting exercise.

'Hildeby has played well for us too," Berube said. "He's played well in the minors so we have a lot of trust in him."

Woll's only blemish in the game was hardly his fault. It took Oliver Ekman-Larsson breaking his stick and resoring to using teammate Mitch Marner's shorter and wrong-handed stick to try and defend. Marner was unable to get off for a change before Scott Mayfield beat Toronto's goaltender.

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