Toronto Maple Leafs forward Max Pacioretty scores against the Anaheim Ducks while lying on the ice during the first period at Scotiabank Arena, in Toronto, on Dec. 12.John E. Sokolowski/Reuters
The value of having two good goaltenders was put on full display for the 18,688 inside of Scotiabank Arena Thursday night. Thankfully for the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, the team has – statistically – two of the best in the NHL.
With Anthony Stolarz unable to continue after succumbing to a lower-body injury, Joseph Woll stepped into the breach to ensure the Leafs won a second straight game, edging the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 after the replacement made 19 saves on 20 shots.
“It’s important,” said head coach Craig Berube on having a solid goaltending tandem. “I thought Wollsy did a real good job coming in, that’s never easy. Made a couple big saves for us. … We’re fortunate to have two guys that have played extremely well this year.”
Not that either would have chosen for the evening to unfold as it did. Stolarz lasted just a single period, making seven saves on eight shots before exiting the game, while at the other end, Max Pacioretty did much of the heavy lifting, scoring twice and adding an assist, while William Nylander registered his team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Thankfully for a Leaf team that has yet to climb the free-scoring heights of previous campaigns, Stolarz and Woll have combined to provide the Leafs with arguably the best netminding tandem in the entire NHL through the season’s first two months. The statistics certainly bear it out, with the pair the only duo to feature in the league’s top five in both save percentage and goals-against average entering this game.
And Woll, who has now won seven of the last eight games he’s played, made the most of a tough situation. Stolarz had given him the heads-up at the start of the first intermission to begin preparing to enter the game as he might not be able to continue.
“It’s kind of mixed emotions,” Woll said after the game. “I’m obviously sad for him. I don’t want him to get hurt and whatnot. And then at the same time I got a job to do, and you have to kind of trigger that on. So yeah, I hope he’s all right, and hopefully it’s not too bad.”
Berube said the team would know more about the extent of the injury on Friday.
“It is concerning, for sure,” the head coach said. “I didn’t see what had happened or anything in the game, but yeah, well, hopefully we get good news out of it.”
Stolarz, the hero of Tuesday’s smash and grab in New Jersey – where Toronto escaped with a 2-1 overtime win in no small part due to his 38 saves – had been rewarded with a second straight start, this time against his former team, for whom he played for four seasons.
It turned into his shortest start of the season.
Given the turmoil in the crease, Thursday would have been a good time for the vaunted Leafs offence to break out of its recent slump.
In their three prior games, the Leafs had mustered just five goals – winning just one of those three games as a result – well below their 2.93 goals-per-game average this season.
If applying some lubricant to their offensive machinery was the goal, then the arrival of the Ducks – the Pacific Division’s last-place team – was a moment of festive serendipity, particularly after they’d been softened up by a 5-1 mauling Wednesday night in Ottawa.
If that wasn’t enough, the Leafs have certainly had their way with Anaheim in recent seasons, going 8-1-1 against it in the prior 10 meetings.
Not that statistical dominance translated to the ice.
The Leafs outshot Anaheim 33-28, but could only convert three of those shots on goal.
But Pacioretty was the main beneficiary, registering a three-point game for the second time this season. However, at one point during the game he had to remember that he is no longer the free-scoring captain of the Montreal Canadiens – for whom he had five 30-goal seasons. On this Leafs team, he is relied upon for bringing grit and a heavy presence to the second line alongside John Tavares and Nylander, although he admitted it was nice to get a reminder of those heady times.
“It is,” he said, smiling. “I got to make sure that I balance everything in terms of being hard to play against and playing straight lines, and I can’t get away from that no matter what the outcome is so started to feel that fade a little bit, but in third, I got back to that.”
And while both Pacioretty and Berube admitted that the team’s general play – particularly in the third period – had been vastly superior to Tuesday’s desultory effort in New Jersey, the star turn was reserved for Woll.
“That’s definitely not an easy position to be in,” Pacioretty said. “I’ve never experienced it, obviously, but the goalies always talk about how that’s a tough situation and he came in and played fantastic.”