The Joseph Woll show has certainly arrived.
Toronto’s young goaltender led Saturday night’s comeback against Tampa by stopping 29 of 29, and he picked up right where he left off against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. The Leafs were outplayed early, getting outshot 17-5 in the first, but Woll was more than up to the challenge. Alex Ovechkin had 13 (!) shots in the first two periods, including a penalty shot, and Woll was hung out to dry on the only shot that beat him. The game felt out of reach for the Capitals as Toronto held a commanding 4-1 lead at the second intermission, and Woll was the major reason why. The third period was scoreless.
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John Tavares and William Nylander each scored at five-on-five in the second, and Auston Matthews and Morgan Rielly found the back of the net on the power play. It wasn’t always pretty, but great goaltending and a hot power play put the game out of reach by the second intermission.
Three stars
1. Joseph Woll
Woll stopped 16 shots in the first period alone, and seven were courtesy of Ovechkin. Washington did score on the power play off a mad scramble, but it was called back for goaltender interference. Darcy Kuemper let in a bit of a softie on the other end, so if it wasn’t for goaltending, the Leafs could have easily been down one instead of up one at the first intermission.
Ovechkin had another six shots in the second, including one on a penalty shot, but didn’t beat Woll until the final seconds. Woll was completely hung out to dry on the play, and his teammates were awfully fortunate that Washington had only scored once through 40 minutes. A pad stop off Matthew Phillips was one of Woll’s best, but there were plenty of them:
Woll makes three stops in a row pic.twitter.com/fFrMuqFdhQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 24, 2023
desperation save from Woll pic.twitter.com/2qZExztMFF
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 25, 2023
2. William Nylander
Nylander continues to dominate night after night. He drew a penalty to put his team on the power play in the first, then had a good chance on the ensuing power play. He came awfully close to scoring minutes later, and was the only Leaf with multiple shots in the opening 20 minutes. His work on the forecheck contributed to Tavares’ goal in the second, and he scored a wicked breakaway goal less than a minute later.
Matthews to Nylander pic.twitter.com/fo4CbSW8xA
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 24, 2023
Nylander then set up Tyler Bertuzzi with a gorgeous pass, but his new linemate wasn’t able to convert. He had another good chance on Toronto’s next power play, then provided a screen in front for Matthews’ goal.
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3. John Tavares
Tavares scored Toronto’s second goal off a deflection in front, and his strength makes him a force to be reckoned with down low. On a night when Toronto struggled to create scoring chances, his minutes were an exception. His line and power-play unit made a positive contribution.
JOHN TAVARES 🚨
What a deflection pic.twitter.com/xLzTDXMr6E
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 24, 2023
Woll makes his case for the starter’s role
Ilya Samsonov surrendered three goals on four shots on Saturday night, and Woll earned this start after leading the comeback by stopping 29 of 29. Sheldon Keefe probably would have played Samsonov against his former team, but Woll earned this start and gave him no choice. Woll broke out with the Marlies last season by posting a .927 save percentage in 21 games, and he never looked nervous in the playoffs. He continues to look awfully calm in the net, and he doesn’t look out of place against high-end shooters like Nikita Kucherov and Ovechkin. Signing him to a three-year deal at a $767k cap hit is looking like an underrated move.
Woll finished with 36 saves on 37 shots, including 14 on Ovechkin. He was absolutely outstanding, and Evolving-Hockey credits him for stopping 2.79 goals above expected.
The Tavares and Nylander duo is on fire
Matthews and Marner may play on the top line, but it’s the Tavares and Nylander duo that’s leading the team in points early. Each racked up nine points in Toronto’s first five games, and they picked up where they left off by teaming up on a pair of goals in the second. The Leafs struggled to generate five-on-five scoring chances, but the Tavares and Nylander duo found a way to make some magic happen. Matthews and Marner have gone a bit cold lately at five-on-five, but Toronto’s second line has stepped up in a major way.
Help wanted in the bottom six
David Kämpf took an offensive-zone hooking penalty on his first shift, which led to a disallowed goal against. Pontus Holmberg took a holding penalty later in the period, and got away with an obvious infraction in the second. The Leafs spent most of the game’s five-on-five minutes in their own end, and the bottom six looked rather lifeless. The duo of Matthew Knies and Max Domi led a comeback victory on Saturday, and while they didn’t give up much on the defensive end, they were a little bit quiet offensively. I’d like to see Knies on the second power-play unit.
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Through five games, the Leafs owned 58.1 percent of their game’s five-on-five expected goals when Ryan Reaves was off the ice, compared to just 32.6 percent when he’s on the ice. He finished at under eight percent tonight. Reaves is surely going to get more than six games to prove that he can still play, but at some point, he needs to look like he belongs. The New York Rangers traded Reaves for a reason last season, and it wasn’t because they didn’t want to be tough anymore. The Leafs could really use a bottom-six lineup spot for a high-end penalty killer.
JOHN TAVARES 🚨
What a deflection pic.twitter.com/xLzTDXMr6E
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 24, 2023
Game Score
Final grade: C+
The Leafs got out to a rough start, generating little-to-nothing at five-on-five, and relying on Joseph Woll to make save after save. They didn’t exactly dominate against a mediocre Capitals team, and the score was a little bit misleading. Fortunately, multiple power-play goals and excellent goaltending can fix a lot of problems. Toronto’s bottom six was lifeless offensively and took too many penalties, and Toronto’s penalty kill made Woll’s life difficult. The Matthews line was awfully quiet by its standards, but two points is two points. I expect the Leafs to outplay the Washington Capitals, rather than relying on high-end goaltending to get the victory.
What’s next for the Leafs?
Heading south to play the Dallas Stars on Thursday at 8 p.m. on TSN.
(Photo: Geoff Burke / USA Today)
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