Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll has been elevated to a true starting role after Anthony Stolarz suffered a lower-body injury Thursday, and spoke to the importance of the camaraderie at the position following Saturday’s 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
Woll made 22 saves on 25 shots, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Red Wings. Toronto has been operating out of a tandem set up with Woll and Stolarz emerging as two of the NHL’s best goaltenders through the first 30 games of the season, and head coach Craig Berube has welcomed the internal competition.
“All the goalies we have in our organization are really good dudes,” Woll said post-game, when asked about backup Dennis Hildeby. “I think that’s important because you’re competing for the net, but at the end of the day, you’re on the same team, and you’re all trying to win for the team.”
Woll spoke about the importance of not looking too far ahead when preparing for the rigours of the National Hockey League.
“I think it’s important to take it day-by day and that’s something that I’ve learned to play in this league, it’s very important to keep a short-term memory or a short-term focus. I think you can (look) to the future about how you can take care of yourself and stuff like that, but your attention needs to be pretty day-to-day. Obviously, all the support and we hope (Stolarz) gets better as quickly as possible.”
Woll has saved 5.9 goals above expected via MoneyPuck, the 11th-best total in the league and while Hildeby will likely get a few starts, he is Toronto’s top goaltender until Stolarz returns. There was some belief that Woll would operate with the majority of the starts to begin the season but Berube has constantly emphasized that both Woll and Stolarz will receive a larger volume of starts than they have in the past, when asked about the specifics of the tandem set up.
Toronto resumes its schedule Sunday, hosting the Buffalo Sabres, where it appears likely that Hildeby could get the start, as the team rallies on a back-to-back.
