'Time of my life': Joseph Woll savours Maple Leafs' net … but was switch too late?

TORONTO — The goaltender who was one save better quickly peeled off his gear.

Then he retrieved a cutting tool from a pouch and swiftly zipped off the extra support wrapping around each ankle — including the one that gave out more than four months ago and cost him a No. 1 job he'd so thoroughly stolen from the guy with the higher pedigree, the richer contract, and the more effortlessly chantable name.

Still sweating from stopping 27 of 28 shots fired his way by the Boston Bruins, Joseph Woll had to place his bandage slicer down so he could shake the hand of Larry Tanenbaum. The smiling MLSE chairman first congratulated the runaway star of Game 5 on Tuesday night before making his way to longest-serving Toronto Maple Leaf Morgan Rielly and GM Brad Treliving,

For once in this tense first-round series, decided by narrow margins and haunted by bipartisan ghosts, the Maple Leafs had dressed a goaltender who had out-duelled the dialed-in Jeremy Swayman, his head-to-head record dropping to 6-1 against the Leafs in 2023-24.

And in solving Swayman, Woll secured Tanenbaum and MLSE at least one more gate at Scotiabank Arena.

More important, the Maple Leafs — whose power play has gone frostier than that forgotten tub of Chapman's French vanilla in the basement freezer — proved that, yes, they can win a 2-1 game.

All they need is clutch saves. Like the right leg Woll launched out to stymie boyhood pal Trent Frederic on an attempted wraparound. Or the left leg Woll flexed to deny Charlie Coyle in a hairy D-zone overtime sequence shortly before Matthew Knies skated down the ice and drove a dagger.

"I'm having the time of my life out there," said Woll, whose development for this moment, three years of it, took place down the road at Boston College.

"It's a place I've played a lot of big games, and to come in here and play the Bruins in an elimination game is pretty special."

Something needed to reverse the mojo following Toronto's Game 4, an uninspired home wreck that prompted Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe to yank Ilya Samsonov after 40 flat minutes and pass the crease to the goalie that the organization is banking on to be 'The Guy.'

Since the switch, Woll has posted a small-sample-size .970 save percentage and 0.70 goals-against average, infusing his teammates with belief.

"I feel pretty safe when he's in net," Knies said. "He sees the ice well, and I trust him a lot."

Despite sitting two weeks between starts and the memory of two late-season losses to these same Bruins (in which Woll gave up four goals in each and was still searching for his pre-ankle-sprain form), the 25-year-old with a clear mind nearly submitted a clean sheet.

Woll credits last spring's experience in Florida, when he subbed in for Samsonov late and secured Toronto's only win of Round 2, for keeping him calm inside TD Garden Tuesday, the guillotine of elimination hanging from the rafters right along with a zillion Celtics championship banners.

"He was fantastic. He just looked really calm, really under control and was seeing it really well, tracking it," captain John Tavares said. "Extremely talented and such a great pro. So, the way he's stayed on things over the last little while, didn't miss a beat."

It took forever for Woll to get a feel for the puck, as the Bruins managed a grand total of two shots in the first period. Frederic scored on the second, converting a high-danger chance from the slot after Leafs defenceman Simon Benoit got worked on the forecheck.

Woll was blameless on that one, then blemish-free afterward. He was unrattled by the stakes or the belligerent Bruins' net-front scrambles, one of which knocked the goalie's skate blade clean off.

"I was really confused, actually. It's never happened to me. It took me a few seconds to realize what happened. I was like, ‘Why can't I push right now?’ Thankfully, the ref was able to blow the whistle for me, so it was good," Woll said with a smile.

In his very brief tenure as an NHL playoff performer (three starts, six appearances), Woll has a .929 save percentage and has averaged 3.3 saves above expected.

"Stood on his head," said teammate Max Domi, who once memorably compared Woll's stoic demeanour to that of future Hall of Famer Carey Price.

"He's unbelievable. I mean, he made some huge saves there, obviously. Coming out of the gates flying, and that's a really tough spot for the goalie to be in. He only sees one or two shots against a team like that in a playoff game. He's been sitting around for a while, so shows how mature he is and obviously the presence that he brings when he steps in between the pipes. It's great to see."

Among the long list of what-ifs in this star-injury-plagued series for the Maple Leafs: What if this was Woll's net from the jump? Or what if they passed the torch after Game 3's loss?

We'll never know.

What did happen was the Leafs' decision-makers watched Woll's regular-season losses to Boston, got encouraged by Samsonov's late stack of wins and his redemption tale, then made their decision days before the puck dropped on Game 1.

But it was how Woll dealt with that disappointing news that gave Keefe confidence to make the flip: zero complaints, maximum effort.

"It's more about consistency in his routine. He works really hard. He fought through a tough injury this season, and that sort of derailed what was a tremendous season to that point. But he stayed with it," Keefe said.

"When Joe really knew he wasn't going to be starting in Game 1 of the playoffs, it was really obvious to me that he was going to just continue to work and do everything that he could and prepare as though he were playing and staying ready.

"And because of that and how the games have gone, we've had daily discussions about when's the right time to get Joe in?

"Joe showed [Tuesday] why you have confidence in him."

Woll prepared every day as if he were the starting goalie for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Now, undisputedly, he is.

"I was obviously very happy to get in the net," Woll said. "Happy that the coaches and team had faith in me."