Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll set to start Game 2 against Panthers

by | May 7, 2025 | Sports

TORONTO — Joseph Woll is heading back under the postseason spotlight.It’s a place the Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender has thrived in the past.Woll will get the start for Toronto in Game 2 of the team’s second-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.The 26-year-old entered Monday’s opener midway through the second period after starter Anthony Stolarz took an elbow to the head from Sam Bennett.“We’ve got a lot of confidence in him,” Leafs captain Auston Matthews said Wednesday said of Woll. “He’s extremely focused, does all the right things.”Coach Craig Berube left the door open for Stolarz to play in Game 2, but told reporters at Scotiabank Arena following Toronto’s morning skate the 31-year-old is “recovering” and “doing well.”Veteran netminder Matt Murray, who spent most of this season in the American Hockey League, will serve as Woll’s backup over Dennis Hildeby. The rookie was on the bench in the third period of Game 1.“Experience, I think, more than anything,” Berube said of turning to Murray, a two-time Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins.“He’s been there, done it.”The Panthers, meanwhile, will have defenseman Aaron Ekblad available after he served a two-game suspension for a head shot on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the first round.“I was aiming for his chest and I caught him in the chin,” Ekblad said in his first comments since the incident that knocked Hagel out of the series. “I’m never out to hurt anybody on the ice. It’s unfortunate the way that the outcome happened.“It is what it is and we all move on.”The 29-year-old Ekblad was selected No. 1 overall at the 2014 draft had recently return …

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