Joseph Woll a saving grace in Maple Leafs’ loss to Carolina
Leafs insist Samsonov injury isn’t serious but Woll’s 41-save effort is still comforting
A night after Ilya Samsonov gave the team a scare, Joseph Woll showed the Maple Leafs he’s going to be ready if needed.
Although the Leafs lost 2-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, Woll’s performance in turning aside 41 of 43 shots, including a Jake Guentzel penalty shot, gave his tired teammates a chance.
“It was a hard-fought game on both sides, a playoff feel in this arena with the crowd into it,” Woll said. “It just came down to a goal.”
Former Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen made 31 saves and extended his winning streak to six games.
Nick Robertson scored in the third period as the Leafs tried but failed to rally from an early 2-0 deficit. It was Robertson’s 10th goal of the season. Between a bad turnover and taking a needless high-sticking penalty, Robertson was having a rough night. But he did his best to make up for it, getting the Leafs’ only goal at 8:51 of the third.
“It’s definitely nice,” Robertson said. “Obviously, it gives you a little confidence, a little peace of mind, I guess. So it’s good to get that one. I got to clean up areas of my game. But that’s how it goes, you have good games, you have bad games.
“Now, for me, it’s just to learn from my mistakes and get better.”
A late Leafs power play and an extra attacker did nothing to change the outcome. The Hurricanes won all three games against the Leafs this season.
