<p>Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll had one of the finest games of his career in Saturday&#8217;s dramatic comeback win against the Montreal Canadiens.</p>
<p>While he allowed three goals on the night, all three occurred in the first period and he was able to shut the door the rest of the way. Even after the Leafs were in control of the contest in the late stages of the third, Woll did not stop competing and weathered the storm.</p>
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<p>Woll then came up with what might be the best save of his career so far when he got the nob of his stick to deny Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, which head coach Craig Berube described as a Grant Fuhr-esque save.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">UNREAL KNOB SAVE BY WOLL! 😱 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HockeyDay?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HockeyDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/z3AB7tA8Wo">pic.twitter.com/z3AB7tA8Wo</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) <a href="https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1880809363922964518?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ8K1YeGOgA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke with the media after the game</a> and was quick to credit Woll for his strong showing and for keeping the Leafs in the game after a disastrous first period.</p>
<p>&#8220; He was huge,&#8221; he said. &#8220; We didn&#8217;t give him much up in the first, but they had their opportunities in the second and third period and he made some unbelievable saves like he has been all year.  He was awesome for us tonight. Really kept us in it and then helped our lead as well.&#8221;</p>
<p>During this stretch of games with Anthony Stolarz injured, Woll has had to carry the bulk of the load in recent weeks and he has stepped up in a major way. It has not been a perfect sequence of games by any means, but he has showcased his ability to elevate his game and provide some stability when the Leafs desperately needed it.</p>
<p>Every other player on the Leafs who spoke with reporters shared their appreciation for his efforts because they knew Woll was the primary reason they had a fighting chance.</p>
<p>&#8220; He was incredible,&#8221; forward Bobby McMann said. &#8220;A lot of times [I] watch from the bench I was like, &#8216;Oh no, that&#8217;s in the net.&#8217; Or even when I was on the ice. And then he somehow came up with a save.  I think a lot of highlight real saves in that game, which is very impressive, and we&#8217;re thankful to have him back there.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;He was huge. He had some crazy saves. So he&#8217;s been dialed this season,&#8221; forward William Nylander added.</p>
<p>It would have been easy for Woll to allow the rough showing by the team in front of him in the first period to snowball into a catastrophe. But as he has done all season, he maintained his composure and continued to battle despite the odds being stacked against the Leafs.</p>
<p>Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson felt that Woll&#8217;s performance on Saturday night was a positive reflection of his character which gave his teammates a boost.</p>
<p>&#8220; I think that says a lot about him as a person, as a goalie,&#8221; he said. &#8220; I didn&#8217;t think any of them were bad goals. But just the way he responded and shut the door, I think as a team it&#8217;s a very good win. Coming in here and the team that&#8217;s been playing well lately, so we&#8217;ll take it.&#8221;</p>
<p>While the Leafs should not expect every game they trail big to end with them scoring seven unanswered to snag the win, they know the steadiness of Woll will always give them a fighting chance. He may be going through a stretch where he has played more games than he ever has in his NHL career but he has no doubt responded well to the challenge which has resulted in his team holding their heads above water while Stolarz is out.</p>
<p>Berube knows he has been putting Woll in a tricky spot with the heavy workload but he is pleased with how his netminder has competed, especially in Montreal with the whole country watching.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is more games than he has normally played in a row. He is standing tall and doing a good job for us in all areas,&#8221; he said. &#8220;He played the puck well tonight and battled in net, which he had to. There was a lot of action around the net tonight. This team does a lot of good things offensively. He had to be sharp.&#8221;</p>
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Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Joseph Woll had one of the finest games of his career in Saturday's dramatic comeback win against the Montreal Canadiens.

While he allowed three goals on the night, all three occurred in the first period and he was able to shut the door the rest of the way. Even after the Leafs were in control of the contest in the late stages of the third, Woll did not stop competing and weathered the storm.
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Woll then came up with what might be the best save of his career so far when he got the nob of his stick to deny Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, which head coach Craig Berube described as a Grant Fuhr-esque save.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1880809363922964518

&nbsp;

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ8K1YeGOgA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spoke with the media after the game</a> and was quick to credit Woll for his strong showing and for keeping the Leafs in the game after a disastrous first period.

" He was huge," he said. " We didn't give him much up in the first, but they had their opportunities in the second and third period and he made some unbelievable saves like he has been all year.  He was awesome for us tonight. Really kept us in it and then helped our lead as well."

During this stretch of games with Anthony Stolarz injured, Woll has had to carry the bulk of the load in recent weeks and he has stepped up in a major way. It has not been a perfect sequence of games by any means, but he has showcased his ability to elevate his game and provide some stability when the Leafs desperately needed it.

Every other player on the Leafs who spoke with reporters shared their appreciation for his efforts because they knew Woll was the primary reason they had a fighting chance.

" He was incredible," forward Bobby McMann said. "A lot of times [I] watch from the bench I was like, 'Oh no, that's in the net.' Or even when I was on the ice. And then he somehow came up with a save.  I think a lot of highlight real saves in that game, which is very impressive, and we're thankful to have him back there."

"He was huge. He had some crazy saves. So he's been dialed this season," forward William Nylander added.

It would have been easy for Woll to allow the rough showing by the team in front of him in the first period to snowball into a catastrophe. But as he has done all season, he maintained his composure and continued to battle despite the odds being stacked against the Leafs.

Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson felt that Woll's performance on Saturday night was a positive reflection of his character which gave his teammates a boost.

" I think that says a lot about him as a person, as a goalie," he said. " I didn't think any of them were bad goals. But just the way he responded and shut the door, I think as a team it's a very good win. Coming in here and the team that's been playing well lately, so we'll take it."

While the Leafs should not expect every game they trail big to end with them scoring seven unanswered to snag the win, they know the steadiness of Woll will always give them a fighting chance. He may be going through a stretch where he has played more games than he ever has in his NHL career but he has no doubt responded well to the challenge which has resulted in his team holding their heads above water while Stolarz is out.

Berube knows he has been putting Woll in a tricky spot with the heavy workload but he is pleased with how his netminder has competed, especially in Montreal with the whole country watching.

"It is more games than he has normally played in a row. He is standing tall and doing a good job for us in all areas," he said. "He played the puck well tonight and battled in net, which he had to. There was a lot of action around the net tonight. This team does a lot of good things offensively. He had to be sharp."
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