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Craig Berube does not exempt Joseph Woll from criticism after loss to Sharks
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Photo credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
Arun Srinivasan
Mar 28, 2025, 07:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 28, 2025, 02:30 EDT
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube provided a candid assessment of his team’s performance following a 6-5 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks.
San Jose led 5-3 heading into the final minute of regulation, but goals from John Tavares and William Nylander sent the game into overtime. Despite the valiant comeback attempt, the Maple Leafs lost in the shootout as Mitch Marner was stopped by Alexandar Georgiev.
Toronto was outperformed at 5-on-5 for large stretches of the night, while Joseph Woll committed one of the true blunders of the season, where his passing attempt hit Sharks forward William Eklund and bounced into the net. Berube did not exempt Woll from his post-game analysis.
“We got better as the game went along. We made some mistakes. We all got to be better, goalie included. It’s not good enough,” Berube said post-game.
Woll made 30 saves on 35 shots on goal, while saving -2.31 goals above expected in all situations, via MoneyPuck. With 10 games remaining in the regular season, Woll and Anthony Stolarz are in open competition for the playoff starter role, working in tandem throughout the regular season.
It would be unfair to solely pin the loss on Woll, as the Maple Leafs did not generate any meaningful offence at 5-on-5 against the last-placed Sharks. Toronto has benefited from elite goaltending for most of the year, but Woll could be considered at fault for at least three of the five goals surrendered in Thursday’s loss and didn’t earn the benefit of the doubt from Berube. Woll also didn’t play up to expectations in his previous start against the Nashville Predators on March 22.
Woll was not made available to speak post-game, via Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.
Stolarz will likely get the start Saturday against the Los Angeles Kings, so we’ll likely see Woll back in action against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Berube has yet to declare his playoff starter, nor he has provided any public inkling towards where he’s leaning, but it’s rare for him to include the goaltender in his post-game criticism and you may have to view the next 10 games as a continued audition for the playoff role.

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