Toronto Maple Leafs Confirm Starting Goaltender vs. the Vancouver Canucks
The Toronto Maple Leafs have decided that Joseph Woll will be their goalie as they head into Vancouver for the final game before the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off Tournament. Is it the right call?
With a two-week break coming up, Toronto needs to have a complete game on Saturday night. With the news that Vancouver is without captain Quinn Hughes due to injury -- it's time for the Leafs to take advantage of a weakened Canucks team.
Toronto (33-19-2) has the chance to keep pace with the Florida Panthers (33-20-3) and with a Florida loss can leap the Maple Leafs into first place right before the break.
So with such an important game, is starting Joseph Woll the right move?
Let's take a look.
Woll Gets The Call For Maple Leafs
It's unsurprising that the Maple Leafs are looking to Woll as their goalie, given that Anthony Stolarz just returned from an extended absence, and it's pretty ridiculous to ask him to play two in a row.
It's not like Woll has been bad this season -- on the contrary. This season, Woll has a 19-10-0 record with a 2.67 GAA and .909 SV% while also adding some pretty ridiculous saves.
It's the right call for the Maple Leafs not just because they could use Woll to cement a perfect four-game road trip, but it gives them an idea of who to play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Both goalies will get a chance to help the Leafs in the postseason, and one of them unfortunately needs to falter in order to see how the other fares.
So knowing that Stolarz can come back after a 24-game absence and play just as well as he had before the injury -- it puts pressure on Woll to perform well.
This season, Stolarz has been fantastic since signing in the summer. He has posted a 10-5-2 record with a 2.08 GAA and .929 SV%.
Vancouver will counter with Thatcher Demko. The 29-year old is 6-6-3 with a 2.90 GAA and .889 SV%.
No doubt the Maple Leafs will have a hungry Canucks team trying to rain on their parade -- and Toronto needs a 'brick Woll' to weather the storm.
But what do you think? Is starting Joseph Woll the right move for the Maple Leafs?
