Twenty-four hours after Anthony Stolarz staked his claim on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ net for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Joseph Woll strode out to the visitors’ cage in Raleigh, took his position, and chimed in with a statement game of his own.
The Maple Leafs have the type of goaltending problem they’ve long been hoping for — the question of which of their steady, solid starters they should throw out first when the post-season arrives. Stolarz has all but sealed up the debate over this final stretch of the campaign, his Saturday-night shutout coming in his seventh straight win manning the blue-and-white’s net.
But Sunday in Raleigh, Toronto’s No. 2 proved he can still hold his own as a No. 1.
It didn’t take long for Woll to make clear he was ready to battle. Through the first 20 minutes of Sunday’s bout, it was all Carolina Hurricanes, the home side accounting for 11 of the game’s first 12 shots, coming at the visitors in waves, looking every bit the better club. But each time they advanced, flying up the ice, whipping passes around the offensive zone, there was Woll — holding them at bay, calming things down, keeping Toronto in it.
If not for the 26-year-old, the Maple Leafs seemed on track to head to the first intermission with a multi-goal deficit. Instead, the Canes came up empty-handed, while Toronto snagged a late lead courtesy of a buried rebound from Pontus Holmberg.
Tristan Blackwood