Clock ticking on Joseph Woll to rediscover top form for Maple Leafs in NHL playoffs

New York Times

11-05-2025

SUNRISE, Fla. — Two years, nearly to the day, before Game 3 against the Florida Panthers, Sheldon Keefe turned to a young goalie to keep the Toronto Maple Leafs' season alive.
The then-Leafs coach tapped Joseph Woll instead of the veteran Matt Murray, even after Woll had missed training camp with injury and only played seven regular-season games.
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Keefe believed in Woll's abilities in a desperate time.
'(Woll) is well above what we had anticipated in terms of the timeline,' Keefe said on May 10, 2023. Woll had just stopped 24 of 25 shots in a Game 4 win against the Panthers. 'For him to play the way that he has and the way that he did in the last regular-season game against Tampa, and to play the way that he has when he has come through the net here in the playoffs, is why we had no question that he would be able to go today. He did a tremendous job.'
Now, two years later, still in South Florida, the Leafs are waiting for that version of Woll to emerge in the playoffs.
The five goals on 36 shots he allowed in the Leafs' 5-4 Game 3 loss to the Panthers weren't all on Woll alone. They remain up 2-1 in the series against the defending Stanley Cup champions, but the Leafs will still be in a difficult spot to close out the series unless Woll rediscovers his postseason form.
After coming in relief for Anthony Stolarz in Game 1, Woll has allowed 11 goals on 84 shots. That's good for an .869 save percentage — 18th out of 20 goalies who have made a start through this postseason.
The Joseph Woll the Leafs are getting right now feels far away from the Woll who kept the Leafs' 2022-23 season alive and the Woll who stopped 49 of 51 shots in Game 5 and Game 6 last year with the Leafs on life support.
The Leafs need that Woll: Clinical. Dynamic in the net. And, maybe, even more desperate?
Because after the worst playoff performance of his career, small sample acknowledged, Woll and Berube were surprisingly upbeat about what transpired in goal.
'I thought he was really good,' Berube said of Woll. 'I don't love the fourth goal, but other than that, I thought he was solid.'
Seeing the glass as half full won't lose the Leafs this series, but what they like about Stolarz is how blunt and aggressive he can be. It has driven the Leafs at times this season, on and off the ice.
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Now wouldn't be the worst time for Woll to adopt a little more of that aggression and desperation from his goalie partner.
When Woll entered over the last two playoffs, the stake had already been driven close to the Leafs' heart. The outcome of the series wasn't dependent on him alone.
Now?
This is different. He plays a starring role. There's pressure that comes with that, the likes of which Woll has never faced before.
How Woll responds to that pressure, with the likelihood of Stolarz returning seemingly low, could partly dictate the Leafs' fortunes in this series.
There is a race now between Woll and Sergei Bobrovsky to find their old playoff forms and steal a game in the series. In a back-and-forth matchup that is this high scoring (who had 25 goals over three games on their bingo card?), one outlandishly good goaltending performance could swing the momentum in one team's favour for good.
Woll needs to step into the spotlight.
'I did the same things I always do. We just came out on the wrong side,' Woll said of his Game 3 performance.
Behind the scenes, Woll prepares relentlessly. He was one of the last Leafs to leave the Panthers' practice facility after Friday's morning skate, getting his body in a good place while most of his teammates boarded buses back to the team hotel. He can't be faulted for not being ready.
Small dips in his game can be corrected. His puck play has looked, at best, indecisive. Poor puck play allows the Panthers more time to get into better positions in the offensive zone.
'It's difficult,' Berube said. 'A lot of those rims, they're up, eh? They're not on the ice. And that's designed. If (the Panthers) can get a good lick on it, they're going to put it on a glass. It's pretty tough for him to come out and play those. So, he did get to a lot of them. They're coming hard, we know that. He's going to have to move it quick, make a decision quick, and move it. That's the bottom line.'
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It's a matter of split seconds, but his timing hasn't been as strong as it was during the regular season. At his best, Woll's athleticism allows him to make quick saves. But Jonah Gadjovich's second-period goal — the 'fourth goal' Berube mentioned — seemed to move in slow motion, from beyond the faceoff dot and past Woll.
EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU TO TOMAS! pic.twitter.com/oqqJOuUm7t
— x – Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) May 10, 2025
Woll has been put in a tough spot. He might have entered this series thinking he would not play. He's had to flip the switch quickly.
'It's very, very tough,' Max Pacioretty said of Woll being thrust into the series with little notice. 'He's done a really good job of handling it. He's made a lot of really key saves for us. So, he's handled it extremely well, and I've made a point of talking about how hard he works, and I think that's a big reason why he's having success.'
Yet he's also been in this situation before. That's what makes his play in Game 3 so confounding.
The Leafs will continue to roll with Woll, even if he stumbles again in Game 4. Murray has played two NHL games this season, both before 2025, and Dennis Hildeby would like to forget four of his six NHL starts this season. If the Leafs turned to either of them, calling it a 'Hail Mary' might be underselling it.
The likelihood of Stolarz returning in this series also remains low.
And so it's on Woll, armed with a recently signed three-year contract extension that will make him the highest-paid Leafs goalie next season, to push momentum back into the Leafs' favour. He's done it before, including through the regular season.
Woll believes he can do it again.
For the Leafs to win this series, he might have to.
'Some of the games (this season) haven't exactly been the best outcomes and haven't gone the way I wanted,' Woll said in April. 'I think I've learned some very good lessons in those as well, again, I needed to learn and ingrain.'