Has Joseph Woll changed the Leafs-Bruins series?
Backs to the wall. Minus your 69-goal scorer. Facing elimination. On the road. Against the team you haven’t conquered in a playoff series since 1959. The Toronto Maple Leafs, undermanned and prematurely eulogized, pretty much had to play perfect hockey to survive Game 5 against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden Tuesday night.
And, given the context, they almost did.
Continuing to look more comfortable on the road than at home, the Leafs started almost flawlessly. In a steely-nerved first period, they stormed out to a 28-7 edge in shot attempts at 5-on-5, putting one past borderline invincible Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman on a point shot from Jake McCabe. Mitch Marner, maligned for his timid play for most of the series, carried over the chemistry he’d found on Toronto’s de facto top line in Game 4. He, Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi looked consistently threatening, trying to fill the void left by superstar Auston Matthews’ absence due to illness.
Toronto still had to navigate what could’ve been a classic playoff letdown moment when, on one of their two shots in the first period, the Bruins got a pinball goal after a Simon Benoit clearing attempt deflected onto the stick of Trent Frederic for an easy one. Heading into the first intermission tied 1-1 despite playing your best period of the series invoked a “here we go again” feeling.
The Bruins predictably came out stronger and much more dangerous in the second and third periods, but the Leafs weathered the storm. They took a single penalty all game. They countered Boston’s chances with chances of their own. Toronto’s second line of Matthew Knies, John Tavares and William Nylander seemed to find its legs as the game progressed. And, after holding on for dear life to start overtime, they snatched a win from the Bruins. Tavares drove hard to the net before his centering attempt deflected off Swayman and right to Knies, who buried his first career overtime winner.
“The guys were moving their feet today, playing hard, and no one quit, no one gave up, and Johnny made an unbelievable play there, driving the net,” Knies told Sportsnet after Game 5. “And fortunately I could bury that and send us back home.”
But here’s the thing. The Leafs almost didn’t get a chance to have that moment. They played a gutsy game, and they deserved to win it, but there’s every reason to believe their season would be over today if it weren’t for goaltender Joseph Woll.
In the most important performance of his NHL career to date, he didn’t merely turn away 27 Bruins shots. He thwarted quality chances of every shape and size. He kept the game 1-1 with a kick save on Jesper Boqvist in the second; kept it 1-1 with consecutive stops on David Pastrnak in the second period; kept it 1-1 with an incredible desperation pad save on Frederic with seven and a half minutes left in the third period; and kept it 1-1 in overtime when the Bruins smelled blood, turning away a point-blank wrist shot from Charlie Coyle.
When last postseason ended with Woll having taken the crease from the injured Ilya Samsonov, it seemed like Toronto’s net was Woll’s long-term. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that the Leafs and Samsonov went to arbitration and landed on a one-year deal that would take Samsonov to free agency. But while the revisionists might be asking why Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe didn’t go with Woll to start the playoffs, Samsonov made sense in the moment. He was the better goalie for most of the second half in the 2023-24 regular season while Woll missed close to three months with a high ankle sprain. Woll never found his rhythm after returning, posting a .890 SV% in 10 appearances. No injustice was done by installing Samsonov as the Game 1 starter.
But, sheesh, did Woll ever look like a difference maker in Game 5 when Keefe finally turned to him. Woll’s smooth athleticism and poise were noticeable. His rebound control was tidy. And he did something few Leaf netminders have done since the likes of Curtis Joseph and Ed Belfour patrolled their crease: Woll made the massive, He-Did-Not-Just-Do-That saves. And, in perhaps the scariest development of all for Boston, he really enjoyed it, telling reporters after the game that he was “having the time of my life out there.”
The Leafs – and the Bruins – learned last spring that a hot goalie can change everything. Sergei Bobrovsky turned the tide for the Panthers to knock them both out a year ago. It’s just one game, but Tuesday night, Woll was the great equalizer.
“He played unbelievable,” Knies told Sportsnet. He kept us in the game the entire night. “Fortunate to have a guy like that back there, so steady and keeps the game alive for us.”
Now the question is whether Woll can repeat the magic trick. Game 6 will, in a twisted way, be a more hostile environment given the Leafs have struggled with the yips at home, losing six consecutive playoff games at Scotiabank Arena. But, hey, sometimes a team left for dead feels less pressure.
“We’ve been resilient all year,” McCabe told reporters Tuesday. “I feel like we’ve been bouncing back pretty good after losses and we showed that tonight. And a lot more hockey to play in us, another chance to get it right on home ice here.”
And with a goalie in a groove, the Leafs suddenly feel a bit more dangerous.
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