'I'll Keep My Secrets': How Joseph Woll Stayed With His Game To Help Maple Leafs Defeat Utah HC In Shootout

When Utah HC came back from 3-0 down against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Joseph Woll could only stick to his game and help the team win.

Entering Monday's game, Woll won two of his last three but had given up 10 goals in that stretch. Rolling into a new building would be a difficult test for the 26-year-old netminder.

Toronto was up 3-0 in the second period before Utah stormed back with three unanswered goals. Woll didn't have much of a chance on any of the goals against, with all three being re-directed into the net.

Still, though, Woll stuck to his game and stopped 13 in the third period and overtime, plus two attempts in the shootout to pick up his 22nd win of the season with the Maple Leafs.

"I felt good," Woll said post-game Monday in Utah.

"Again. like, them scoring three in the second, I think it’s just important, I spoke about the team’s systems and staying to our structure and the same goes for me as an individual and just staying to my game and refocusing and focusing on the next save so I was happy with that and the third and overtime and whatnot."

Woll is up to a .870 save percentage since the 4 Nations Face-Off break in mid-February. Although it's been a tough stretch for him in the crease, he's only looking to take the positives from his game, and work on a few areas that haven't been up to his standard.

What did he learn that he can apply to his future game?

"I’ll keep my secrets to myself," he said with a smile. "Yeah, like, yeah, the stuff about my game, again, I’ll keep personal, but the biggest thing is to not to waver from your system, from your structure, from your process.

"The results aren’t always going to be great but, like I said the other day, the bad games, the really bad games have a good way of being the biggest learning experiences so I’m happy to keep that growth mindset and that positive attitude regardless of the result."

Woll was strong when he needed to be against Utah. If Toronto needed a big save, he was there — especially in overtime and the shootout. Woll was a big part of why Toronto won their final game of a lengthy road trip.

"Very good. He held us in there, made some big saves for us," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "He was really good tonight."

Toronto finishes their road trip — including one stop back at home — with five wins, two regulation losses, and one shootout loss. They've picked up 11 out of a possible 16 points and sit two back from the Atlantic Division-leading Florida Panthers.

The Maple Leafs return to action on Thursday against Florida, looking to climb back to the top of the divisional standings.