Woll provides the backbone in Maple Leafs’ character win

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In the midst of a gutsy Maple Leafs performance, goaltender Joseph Woll didn’t just stand by and watch his teammates’ character come to the fore.

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Woll was sharp throughout the game, finishing with 31 saves on Wednesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights at Scotiabank Arena in a 3-0 Leafs win.

It was Woll’s second shutout in the National Hockey League and first in nearly three years, as his only other came on Nov. 21, 2021, in a 20-save performance against the New York Islanders. The final that night at UBS Arena on Long Island also happened to be 3-0.

This time, Woll held the fort in the second period as the Golden Knights got 16 shots on him. That helped enable the Leafs to carry a 1-0 lead into the third.

“He was excellent,” Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “The second period, they made a pretty good push and they had control of the play quite a bit in our zone.

“I thought we were little pushed back at that time, but he came up big for us. It keeps you in the game and then our third period was excellent.”

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After William Nylander scored on a power play three minutes into the third, the Leafs put the clamps on the Golden Knights. Vegas registered just four shots on goal in the final 17 minutes.

Woll tipped his cap to his teammates, specifically, the amount of blocked shots. The Leafs blocked 25 shots.

“(That) really stood out for me,” Woll said. “Stevie Lorentz in the second with a few off the same foot — might owe him dinner or something. Caber (Jake McCabe) and Mo (Morgan Rielly) both had big ones in the slot.

“Timmer slid head-first into one, that’s unreal to see. Usually, that kind of stuff is reserved for playoffs, but when you play like that in the regular season on a Wednesday night, it’s pretty special to see.

“That’s winning hockey. It’s the way we’re trending and trying to play more.”

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When asked about his own game on the night, Woll deferred. He’s 4-2 in six games since returning from groin tightness and improved his save percentage to .922.

“I think behind a great defensive effort, I thought I played within my system,” Woll said. “There were different moments where the momentum was swinging both ways and in the second, we had a few kills.

“It’s tough for me to talk about my game because sitting behind our effort was pretty special. I’m just happy to be back playing.”

Because of the Leafs’ light schedule, Woll had not played in a week. Whether it’s Woll or Anthony Stolarz, Berube doesn’t have to hesitate when he decides who to start in net. The Leafs’ goaltending has been stellar on the whole.

While Lorentz led the Leafs with four blocks, on the physical side, Simon Benoit was a beast after he was a healthy scratch the past two games. Benoit’s eight hits were a personal high for the season and he played like someone who has absolutely no interest in sitting out again.

“I thought he was more aggressive than he has been,” Berube said. “Not only without the puck and being physical and closing out plays, but I thought he skated well with the puck and moved in the offensive zone, out of the D zone. He made plays, advanced the puck up the ice. I thought Benny had a great game.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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