Maple Leafs' messy defensive effort hangs netminder Woll out to dry in debut

TORONTO — For at least one corner of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ roster, Kyle Dubas made his intentions crystal clear.

“Up front and on D, if there’s a way we can improve the team and give ourselves a chance to make a run at it, then we’ll do that,” the general manager said Thursday, three weeks out from a crucial trade deadline. But right before that, Dubas slipped in one other gem:

“Whatever way we can improve the team, we’ll look to do that — with the exception of goaltender.”

Take a look back through the past few seasons of Maple Leafs tumult, and it’s a key exception.

Midway through Toronto’s 2022-23 goaltending experiment — a polarizing dice-roll on Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov — Dubas made clear he plans to stick with the duo for the rest of the season, the stakes high as they’ve ever been. The only problem, of course, is one half of that duo has been stung by the injury bug yet again, Murray currently sidelined with an ankle injury while Samsonov’s taken up the lead role in blue and white.

The latter’s handled that spotlight well, no doubt, Samsonov stringing together a .917 save percentage so far, forced to take on a hefty workload with his club without another clear option to turn to.

Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, the Maple Leafs faithful got their first look this season at what that other option looks like. The results were mixed.

Facing the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second half of a home-and-home back-to-back, the Maple Leafs didn’t make it easy on Joseph Woll. The 24-year-old netminder finished the night with four goals allowed on 40 shots, his club stumbling to a 4-3 loss in a game they undoubtedly should’ve won. You’d be hard-pressed to heap much blame on the young tender’s shoulders, though.

Not after the hapless, messy defensive performance had had to navigate in front of him.

“We just got outworked,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said from the bowels of Scotiabank Arena after the final buzzer had sounded, offering a terse diagnosis of his club’s unravelling. “Outplayed.”

It was an embarrassing final result for a game that looked like easy points for the Keefe’s club after 20 minutes. Rewind to the end of the opening frame, and the Maple Leafs were sitting with a 2-0 lead, skating circles around the Jackets, multiple blue and white jerseys dancing around opposing players in the neutral zone, trying their hand at All-Star Weekend-esque dangles en route to the net.

By the end of the second, Toronto found itself down 3-2, getting outshot, and having to claw its way back in a game that seemed in the bag early.

The Maple Leafs got one back, pulling level early in the third period with a power-play marker, only to fall back down again four minutes later, staying on the mat til the clock hit zeroes.

It’s the precise result the Maple Leafs faithful didn’t want to see, not after having watched this club leave points on the table against winnable opposition time and time again; not after a lengthy All-Star break that should’ve left these Leafs well-rested and ready to roll towards the post-season.

Not in the season debut for Woll, who could very easily wind up a key part of this team’s potential playoff success a few months from now.

“It’s always disappointing, but no doubt, Jo gets his first opportunity and you want to do a good job in front of him,” a dejected John Tavares said post-game. “So, yeah, all-around disappointing.”

Despite doing him no favours, by way of two periods of lackadaisical defensive play in their own zone and a slew of unnecessary giveaways all over the sheet, the veterans had nothing but praise for Woll and the job he tried to do amid the chaos Saturday night.

“He’s outstanding,” Morgan Rielly said. “He’s played great every time he’s been up here. He works hard, he’s got a good attitude. Very bright future for him.”

The overall rough outing didn’t dull the night’s shine for Woll himself, either, the AHL standout thrilled to get the call regardless of how the first one turned out.

“It was a pretty awesome atmosphere to play in,” he said of his season debut, and fifth career NHL appearance overall. “It’s pretty special to be able to play in front of your home crowd. Unfortunate we didn’t get the win for them, but definitely an experience I’ll remember.”

Sporting a sterling .930 save percentage for the AHL Marlies this season, the hopes are high for Woll — high enough, it seems, that the Maple Leafs view him as the next man up if Murray isn’t able to regain his place as the second half of the club’s big-league tandem. Not a minor decision given how often clubs have had to turn to their backup options in pivotal moments in post-seasons past.

A game like Saturday’s did little to determine whether that choice is a wise one or not, the play in front of Woll erratic enough that it’s tough to envision Samsonov or Murray faring much better.

“He was fine — we gave up too much,” Keefe said post-game when asked about Woll’s debut, the coach shifting attention back to the rest of his squad. “Too many shots through.”

“I was just trying to keep my mind right and do my job,” said Woll of the wild second period that swung the game back in the opponent’s favour. “I could’ve got another save for them in the second, but I thought I did a good job sticking to my process. And I was happy with how we fought back in the third — up until the final buzzer, we were working hard to get it back.”

In the end, it wasn’t enough. Now, the Maple Leafs move on down two undeniably gettable points, the questions of their goaltending situation still largely unanswered, and the questions of their effort level still being asked, after all this time.

Clearly unimpressed with that effort level Saturday night, Keefe was asked what he said to his club after the second period, as it began to fall apart.

“I said, ‘You’ve got to make a decision on how important it is to you,’” the coach answered.

“That’s really it.”